Lay In My Bones

Lay in my bones
Strong and fit for the stretch and the wringing hands
long overdue in that shade of desire
that washes your feet in the muddied waters
puddled beside your exit
slow and cold like a lazy snowflake
your descent into the harried masses and hurried streets

Where coins rattle against paperclips and pen caps
in bottomless pits
and purple smudged receipts beg for an audience
slapping against graffiti and urine stained concrete
while small dogs on long leads clear a path
for the right handed coffee drinkers 
avoiding physical contact with the left handed prayers

But you
once the needle pinned in a spool of thread
are unwinding and spinning
dangling over the edge of all rhyme
all reason
altering my memory into an unwelcome reminder
that yours is the life that gains distance
before your body can catch up

And as you take your soul on a permanent vacation
I become ever more aware
that I’m the unwanted baggage
abandoned in that three star hotel room
on that cobalt blue morning
after you unknowingly implanted
your unnamed baby inside me


 E.A. O'Connell