Saying Goodbye in June

Over the next few days I will share some poems written long time ago that took me back “there” as I reread them. This is the first one:

Was that a way to say goodbye

One decisive last time in Lisbon

Your skin in golden light blending with that early June

The sparkle in your eyes already fake,

Contemptible imitation of their glorious shining in the past

In the dark our bodies still made out by heart

Skilled lips and hands achieving that doomed perfection

Demanding, and conceivably simulating a shared death

Lisbon and the coast were not enough

The waters took what was left of us

And the sun looked after our goodbyes

And the angels formed a crowd on the big bridge

And separately we thanked them all for their weeping

I now walk along the beach in mild stupor

And rummage through all I have unburied

Swimming in the big sea of incomprehension

Ghost-loving you in all your majestic absence

Alone, again, alone I go back to your space

Spacious, long sleep in that June morning light

Now, that’s a way to say goodbye