Hold On, Old Friend
Let’s dream away the darkness
after the car wreck. Let’s put our brightest lights
back inside of ourselves.
Sleepwalkers carry flashlights, knives,
mouthfuls of spit. Let’s ignore them.
We’ll sleep to music and cicadas the cat loves.
Our last day on earth was yesterday.
I never forget a face, even buried
beneath sooty soothing ground.
Tonight, alone or loved, it’s complicated,
our bodies caught in a net,
tongues turned to three-piece suits,
all stiff and unexpressive, I mean,
our breath still floating somewhere
far, far away from us.
3 thoughts on "Hold On, Old Friend "
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So so many great lines and moments in this, Tom. I especially like
“Let’s put our brightest lights
back inside of ourselves” — just gorgeous. I’m really enjoying reading your work.
“tongues turned to three-piece suits,/all stiff and unexpressive” – nice! “I mean” = shades of Arlo and Alice’s Restaurant. (which is always good!)
This poem really spoke to me . I love it! My favorite line is, “We’ll sleep to music and cicadas the cat loves.”