SeeSaw

You are the plank.
You are an even-hewn and sanded length
that reaches end to end, your hand upon
my temperamental arc.
You are diameter aimed clean
into the heart of me.
I turn as on a spit of steel
(your steel)
except that
I am flame and meat at once the same.
You are the planet firm in heaven’s sea,
and I the tempest-tossing test
of earth’s humanity.
You are the moon.
I am the tides that pout and turn and then return
in love’s remembered ache.
You are the balance
and I am
the dance.

Pam Goode

Paramour:


When he called to say he’d be home early, an hour away at most,
she hurriedly grabbed the signs of her weekend with passion:
the voluptuously hot-colored glass,
(a spontaneous deviation from her usual blues),
the achingly sharp tools …
the milky white adhesives,
the markers (you are MINE!),
the ubiquitous remnants of joy
left strewn across the table,
the chairs,
the floors,
her clothes…
the Tears for Fears,
the Prince,
the Elton.

Closet closed now,
the sweep of the vacuum,
the stash of memories
now buttoned up,
but only a wisp away
from tomorrow’s
studio time.