012525b

 

Melba

You begged me.

Visit my house, you said,

but you were never home,

I broke in on Saturday;

the place echoed empty,

but on every wall your face,

smiling, scowling, sleeping,

mouth open in a scream.

One in the bedroom moved,

its lips formed words

I couldn't understand,

a tear ran from the inner

corner of your eye,

landed in a small pool;

tadpoles wriggled in it,

and something slowly

moved in depths impossible.

At this point things got weird;

bubbles rose to the pool's

surface, burst to release

the words “Help.....me.....,”

another tear fell plunk

from your wall-hung face.

I thought to fish

you out of the pool,

but what bait would tempt?

I settled on grilled chicken;

what splash-plopped out

wasn't you, but our

newborn child, a fish.

She has your eyes.