Friday, April 4, 2014

PAD - Day 4. 5 "Since -------" Poems


Since the soldiers left

it has been still
in the dusty dawn
red earth puffs
in small clouds
around the boys’
bare shins as they kick
a Coke can
left behind
and look over their
shoulders before they
laugh – waiting for
whatever will whirl
in dusty days to come


Since you know it all

tell me
why when I wake
there is a hiccup of
dread drifting from your
side of the bed
tell me
why ice tendrils
trail my spine
and I hold my
breath to quiet
my heart dully
pounding portents
I chase with imagined
scenes of peace
tell me
why I see you
shape shifting
in sleep – rising
on a naked elbow
steel barrel at my
quivered chest
Since you know it all
tell me when my
golden boy transformed
to the unpredictable
monster I feel breathing
unexploded rage beside
me wrapped in our duvet
sleeping – for now
tell me


Since you asked

the floor boards
creak at night
the curtains
flutter when
there is no
from the corner
of my unsleeping
eye I see a shape
that looks familiar
I suppose all things
considered I am
since you asked


Since she married

she wakes in
early morning
the sun glinting
on her ring
and hugs herself
before the sweet
sleeping hump of
covers turns and
takes her places
she never imagined
waiting at the end
of the aisle


Since you split my lip
I learned that blood
does taste like copper
pennies and that it is
possible for you to cry
copious tears in my lap
as I hold your hand and
notice that your knuckles
are swollen around small
cuts where my teeth hit
Since you split my lip
I dry your tears with a
dishtowel – suck the
blood back down my throat
and get you ice for your
too fast fist
and – No, there
is no need for sorry
because I truly do
know that this time


  1. Wow. You're writing so powerfully, Pearl!

  2. These are all beautiful. I particularly like the first one, but I like them all.


  4. Oh, Pearl -- how come I tend to nod when I read your poems? Beautifully written, as always...