Neil McKay's Shared Poems

When we are old,
When more of life has occurred
To us, and more of death
And the daily dramas
And traumas are out of focus
As we sit in our pajamas
And sip on coffee,
Now decaffeinated--as are
Most of our rituals--
When we are old,
What is important will surface
When it will.

Someone once told me
Or wrote it in a poem,
"I like poets more than I like poetry."

I would add to that,
I like baristas more than coffee,
I like bartenders more than beer,
I like friends more than friendship.

Explosions in the morning sound like my neighbor building something in his garage
Hammering, I think, but it's not the sound of creation.
It's the sound of destruction or rather recreation of destruction
Reservation fireworks mimic the cannon shells and musket volleys
Of the defenders of our independence
The slave owners, the land holders, the wealthy men
Who wanted their chance to rise to unofficial royalty
By virtue of hard work and the luck to be born
In a place and time where the color of your skin
Was the biggest determinate of your success.
A place and time not so different from here and now.

So my neighbors, not the builder in his garage,
But the exploders in the street,
Pay tribute to those fighters
Though they don't really seem aware
Of the symbolism of their fireworks
They know it's all about their freedom,
The freedom to pretend they are revolutionaries
The freedom to explode ordnance
In impotent displays
Like children.

Among love's graces we shall find
The lovely phrase, "I do not mind"
I do not mind that you are late,
That you don't like to rollerskate.

I do not mind your stated goal
To make me eat more vegetable.
I do not mind your morning breath,
You don't mind mine, though it be death.

I do not mind your heart of stone
when you decide to sleep alone.
I do not mind your constant mess
Your changing plans, your busyness.

I do not mind your failing vision
It hides my flaws that cause derision
I do not mind that you're not jealous
You know it's just for you I'm zealous

Sometimes you like to list for me,
The reasons I should turn and flee,
For every flaw you list and find
My answer still is, "I don't mind"

You fall asleep while I do the dishes.
Later I fall asleep while you write a letter.
Last night you couldn't bear to sleep without me,
So I slept with you until 6 a.m. and went home.

Tonight I sleep alone and you sleep alone.
We somehow do that together.
You like to sleep late in the morning.
I fall asleep early on the couch.

There are times we are both awake,
At the same time, in the same room,
With the same idea.
Later I fall asleep while you read.