A dispatch from the icy mist,
two rosy cheeks that I once kissed.
You'll see me go
My head's already out the door,
thinking a month out maybe more.
and few would follow
somewhere a violin bows and a rock a rolled
Prison boxing got to me
the toughest fights you rarely see
beyond the bars
and all the fists and gloves
a cruising waits with eyes swelled shut
and look at them
no one wins
till my friends say
"how are you? It's been too many years."
And I say, with purity and candor,
"I've missed you."
So bring your poppies home to us
forget the roses, buttercup.
There'll be no need.
We'll plant on robot row and promise in the ground below,
That there will be more.
So swing wide the doors
and not yet bury that I'm ready for.
I won't press you in a book,
a flat brown shell of what you were.
I'll never need another look.
Cause I'm not proud, I'm not ashamed,
I'm not at risk of forgetting your name.
You are unending.
I found some peace in
and when my friends say
"how are you? It's been too many years."
And I say, with purity and candor,
"I've missed you."