The night was restless and I passed the time counting rain drops against the window and the time between drops as they fell off the wires on the side of the house.

I noticed the currents of water as they flowed down the street like a makeshift river – here today, gone tomorrow, like his memory and how the stories he tells don’t have right endings but instead they race down the street disappearing when the morning comes.

He surprised me when he said he liked cats, more than dogs, then let the conversation trail off to something like silence.

I could still hear his thoughts churning and waited patiently for whatever winds would blow next.

He ended up complaining about the traffic and went off to take a nap.

The sun shone again in the early afternoon drying the drops on the windows,

(they had been so visible during the night now leaving only the pattern of light through the blinds onto the rug.) 

A straight line pattern – not tangential like the way he speaks , but like a ladder that could be climbed until there is that sunny clarity that comes over the horizon and displaces those raindrops that once ran down the window.

The high chimney – much higher than usual – perhaps to make What was done there disappear faster.

(no reminder for conscience to carry)

The building.- So non descript and ordinary – nothing to betray its true function.

(hidden and closed off to all prying eyes)

Today it is empty and sikent,

cold to the eyes,

windows to view and to contemplate,

(to remember or express disgust)

The effort is genuine but the results are vague at best,

clouds grey and thick,

they settle over as if a gathering storm of rage seeks to remind man of the presence of the Almighty,

the onlooker is left,

to ponder how this happened,

only mirrored by the gathering of clouds as if God is asking the same question himself? 

The chimney stands as a reminder of how the question needs to be asked and how it still remains unanswered to the satisfaction of those who ask it.

It remains,

to remind us,

to keep asking.

In case you forgot 

I have a picture,

of you and I,

fishing.
I, standing.

You sitting next to me.

Blue water,

summer sky,

you small and happy,

me proud and standing tall.

(A moment captured for all time, carried within me, just like your heart.) 

In case you have forgotten,

I still stand next to you,

(tall and proud)

Just like that day,

in the sun,

that has never faded!

Even though you are growing and no longer needing so much help and protection, 

in case you have forgotten,

I remain right next to you.
II. A rainy morning

They rain poured down,

she.did not seem to mind.

She had her phone and watched videos and plays games,

chasing points instead of rain drops,

(maybe she remembered the way the cats used to do that when they were younger and less lazy?)

Then there was a the radio commercial about the cafe,

where cats are part of the ambience sitting all around, relaxed and friendly.

(The way the black one did at the bookstore)

She said she wanted to go and wondered out loud if she could bring the dog?

She went back to her game before I could answer.

(falling rain and the ride went on) 

We got soaked walking into school,

she didn’t seem to mind and I heard her laughing at me when I spilled my coffee.

(she is so.pretty when she smiles)

I tell her so and she pretends not to listen.

III. Adolescent Girl

I love to see the way she looks off into the distance,

the shape of her eyes,

and face,

are so beautiful to me,

(almond shaped, high cheek bones and triangular.)

Especially when she wears her hair on top of her head

and it spills down the middle of her back,

(she does not know how beautiful she is.)

She takes snapshots of the moon,

through the car window,

concentrating on the angle,

(stargazer)

she watches as the train go by,

she is silent,

ignoring me,

(but not escaping the gaze of my mirror.)

Then she brushes her hair.

(her mother helped her wash it last night.) 

Every now and then she checks to see if I am watching,

catching me from time to time,

I tell her I love her,

she never stops,

just looks out the window,

dreaming,,

(she is going to ride after school)

I watch her sometimes,

on her mare,

hair flying out behind her,

smiling,

She does not know how beautiful she is,

so I remind her,

(even when she ignores me)

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