Recording of My Poem “His Softness”

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shoes

His Softness

What name would survive
had you not stepped into the water

that day? Memory assigned
a separate word, another given,

and the face I’d placed with you
appeared in front of me

fifteen years later, in another
setting, miles away

and still breathing. How
may I honor you

if not by name? I recall
the gray ocean and how

umbrellas struggled in
the wind, and reading

in the weekly newspaper
a month after

that you had never emerged.
Now your name still lies there,

somewhere, under the surface,
unattached yet moving with

the current, and I,
no matter how I strain,

can’t grab it. Time after time,
it slips away. Just slips away.

.* * *

“His Softness” was published in January 2016 in the inaugural edition of MockingHeart Review, and reappeared here in July 2016.

33 thoughts on “Recording of My Poem “His Softness””

  11. “somewhere, under the surface,
    unattached”
    We try so hard to give the appearance of having it all together or belonging. But you beautifully point out that we are free under the surface of that which we create as a mask or shell. Unattached to any one thing, free to simply be. So much truth comes from loss, so thank you for sharing.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

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