Better to start with what I
Haven’t missed.
I haven’t missed the meals I skipped
When the choice was art or
Bread

I haven’t missed money
Unless I was broke and begging
But I’d miss any page gone from these shelves

I haven’t missed the chatter that tore my
Mind away from her own matters
A theft only time and silence can cure

I haven’t missed the time I gave or the
Kisses, but I miss that magic that turned us out of our
Entwined bodies our spirits rocked
Locked together transforming through
Spectra of species
Oh we were bears enclasped lions
Leaping salmon
Wolves writhing snakes
Rising like smoke from our
Burning flesh

I’ll never miss a ball and chain
Yet yearn so for
Compatriot, collaborator, mutual transmogrifier
I probably wouldn’t mind
A little less silence