Matvei Yankelevich
* * * [Winter's disappointments include]
Winter's disappointments include:
your fears line up with my faults
so perfectly it's nearly cause
for celebration. Wild chives
spew forth, brown trees bud, roses
open hopefully but lack spring's
early vigor: So my old love warms
quietly the quiet room — bed, desk,
dresser, records, dining table (same
as desk), and pyramids of half-read
books, time-loved. These faults are
finally irreparable, and fears —
for young embrace. I'll likely not
reply with reciprocity in passion
your plaintive facebook message.
Ask how void beckons, vacant
lowered eyes seduce, and edge
draws one precipitously nearer
affection's empty promise. Old
ships love storms all the more so
at safe distance, for dry dock
is mundane, and everywhere
repairs, repairs, repairs...
[published in the magazine Prelude]