Gwynne Mason
Anica
Response
October
By Marla Deschenes
Inspiration piece
October closes its sweatered arms around me
The crunch of falling leaves greet both my feet
And my constant companion’s
Though his feet double mine.
I can’t imagine a world where
You spend your life looking at the backs of people’s knees
Although sometimes I feel as though
My life really is like that anyway
If I think about it long enough.
It was always about October
And stolen cigarettes
And
You.
I spend my days marveling at how I got here
When I spent so much time trying to deny that
I wanted nothing more
Than this – all of it.
From the fenced in yard to the home that I know by its creaks and sighs
In the nights spent closed in your arms
In our home
My life really is like that anyway
If I think about it long enough.
It is never about me
More the constant nights
Smoking behind the shed
And
You.
I am most creative during this time
When everything around me is readying for sleep.
I watch the leaves save their final goodbyes
And leave their muddied shadows on the pavement.
I am aging in this skin
A scary prospect with the vision
Of being old and tattooed
And forgotten.
No one wants to die alone
Like October.
Always on that path
The fastest way
Connecting the highways lines back
To
You.