After Shiva, after Shloshim, perhaps I’ll start wandering again,
Or, I may go down into the basement and wonder what
To do with so many dresses, blouses, coats, shoes, but
In time, they may all soon disappear just as you have though
We all knew the day that we couldn’t remember would ever
Be like she’s just up and left us kind of day, but then, just
Like that, you up and took off, to wherever off is, if it is any
Where nearby, but all of us don’t know about that too much.
With luck, I might sail away somewhere on an old steamer, looking
For Orson, or Sydney, or Rita from so many old steamer movies that
Helped us through our long nights, and some lovely afternoons.
I’ll need to pack a tuxedo, for every now and then, we’re asked
To dress up, though I don’t have much interest in what you loved
So much, but I’m not even sure I’d still fit in what I once fitted
Into very nicely, but now, nothing feels worth all those buttons
And shiny shoes. We’ll see, and perhaps that’s all will be ever
Able to see, just a vague grey day ahead of one after another.
Perhaps walking through all the floors of the British Museum
Might help, or not, as not everything appeals as it once did,
Back then, when we discovered Lao Tzu with his ox behind a
Slightly smudged glass home and hut, where he still gazes into
The future, for all of us. What does the old sage wonder about
Now, but then, it might not matter as we have another museum
Scheduled for tomorrow, as well as trips on the water boats
Taking us to more and more places to walk around just to gaze.
The Coliseum and the Forum might not seem so oh look at that
Now that there’s no one to look with at what once was Rome ages
Ago, but then we’re all older, aren’t we, and wondering into
An age we’ll probably regret, but not before standing somewhere
In Florence, wondering which floor of the Uffizi to start with first,
But that may not be such a problem, as by now, I’m starting to
Even wonder where I might be if I’m here or over there, as even
My old brain, once a font of wisdom and delight, now has turned
Into a bit of muddle, though the old corpse could be worse off
But not today, not just yet, something more to see we once saw
Sometimes in shorts and sundresses, sometimes in something
Else, sometimes with nothing else, but then, we’ll sail out into
The Mediterranean, and climb one of the picturesque islands
And for the afternoon, all we’ll do is enjoy the salad and wine,
Even if no one thinks of ever saying, may we join you, and of
Course, I say certainly, and then, just like that, the sky is sunnier.
