Sometimes Love is a Dry Gutter
Or a restless leaf, a footprint.
Is fault on a blameless day,
scrawled on a washed-out sky.
My friend’s music orbits his home,
worms through the cracks
in the bluest lines, ever new
and permanent, staining even his hope
long after the lights stutter away.
And the rain’s attenuated sorrows?
They’re coming, he says. Like goats
through a fence. Like lava. Like tomorrow.
“Sometimes Love is a Dry Gutter” was first featured at Vox Populi in January 2017. I’m grateful to editor Michael Sims for supporting my work.
O at the Edges 
Beautifully written as always. Loved it!
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Thank you, Marta. Much appreciated!
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You are welcome.
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Really enjoyed reading this with its many differing allegorical nuances. Have a great day.
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I’m so pleased you enjoyed it, Goff. Thank you for letting me know.
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Love doesn’t ask whether the inundation will come, but when… and were it not willing to weather the inevitable, it would be something other than love.
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So true – the inundation comes when it will.
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Ivor being the music fanatic that I am, these immediately grab me
“My friend’s music orbits his home,
worms through the cracks
in the bluest lines, ever new”
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Thanks, Ivor. I’m so pleased you picked out those lines!
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Music plays on my heart-strings.
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As it does mine.
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I really like this one, too, Robert.
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Thank you, Randy.
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You’re welcome. I love the wistful end tone.
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Lovely!
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Thank you, Nadia!
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“Love is fault on a blameless day.” Phenomenal work O. Your flow is so visual. Thank u 4 sharing this. 🌟🌟🌟
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Thanks very much, Belinda!
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“Like goats through a fence” — LOVE this! A story on its own! ❤️ Tomorrow, paired with the comic persistence of goats!
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Goats seem to always find their way through!
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The first line is very good and then it gets even more interesting
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Reblogged this on richwrapper and commented:
When first I glanced: thought a wonderful haiku stared at me through phosphor…then I saw the rest – even better than 5-7-5 and-all-that. But, then, what one expects of Robert Okaji’s O At The Edges is right here yet again.
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Ah, thanks for your kind comment. And for reblogging!
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An honor for me to so re-blog and I trust those who find your work worthy and leave me many kind comments will take the opportunity to mine your own site for treasure. J
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