Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Left In Manitou
Sometimes I can still see her
Peering out the bedroom windows
Then disappearing
Walking down the blue ramp
Into the park,
Past the penny arcades
Turning left, then heading up Lovers Lane
Where that blue light is always on
Stops at the Dead Man's Tree
Where the noose hangs limply
Then in the dark into the park
With the giant sundial
Only seen in the light of the moon
Take a sip from the fountain of healing waters
Walking over to the big clock
Keeping the time
The time before
The slamming door

And the baby who is always crying
And the mother who was always dying
And the husband who was never around
In this tiny one horse town







Written circa 2001
This is me now, in front of my old apartment in Manitou Springs, Co. I left this apartment in 1998 to move to a ranch with my husband, who was then my boyfriend of only four months. This is me over this past weekend as we celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary by going back to the town where we met and fell in love. I got to go in my old apartment, that was wild! I used to take a walk almost every night, the walk I describe in this poem, in the four months I lived here, and now it exists in my memory. I meant to make that night walk again, but instead we decided this time to create new memories.

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