Though the young might ask
why not Tuesdays
since your days are likely indistinguishable,
 
old lovers understand that Tuesdays
tend to bring bills in the mail while Saturdays
signal time to play. Clocks and calendars…weekends…
 
ah week’s end: candlelight, music and a glass of wine,
the unfurling onto fresh sheets and plumped pillows,
moonlit caresses no longer requiring a roadmap to pleasure.
 
My children, please forgive me
if these words conjure images that bring discomfort.
The title should have warned you to read no further.
                        

They gathered in Mother’s room
to pray, deliver her
 
from the demons they believed in,
to lay hands on she who was His
 
in the name of He
who was theirs.
 
I watched,
then ran.
 
Fifty years later, I still wonder
what possessed them.
                        

To see is to forget the name of the thing one sees—Paul Valery
 
but all we have are names
syllables 
 
sounds
separating
 
this
from that
 
one
from the other
 
even you
from me
 
after all
these years
 
of reaching
gathering
 
holding
consuming
 
all I presumed
was mine
 
here
then not