Some flounder and thrash and others swim |
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And She SwimsShe tried to tell him things had changed,that the music was somehow slower and she couldn’t dance to this beat Legs tangled, stumbling across his floor, where once the rhythm carried her Wanted to keep it Wanted to keep it Oh, God Wanted to keep it Their song ran backward, words all rearranged and yet he wouldn’t stop singing and the lyrics still made sense to him But it made him sweat to work so hard, at what had always been an easy job Needing her there Pleading her there and sometimes hating her there They found that holding on too tight kills small birds and love Kindness between them not shot from the sky, but just trembled and died in their hands, so quietly the moment wasn’t even marked Talking it out Not talking at all Talking too much, to silence He carries the scars like a wounded veteran of a war he never understood, sometimes bragging, sometimes crying to sleep She wears her love for him like a warm shawl, wrapping herself and another in its folds He drinks to forget She lives to remember He drowns in regret and she swims |
This poem is included in Jim Freeman's poetry collection CORNER OF MY MIND available here in print or as an e-Book in your favorite formats. |