reunion

reunion
may 2015

you know them
only
from that space
the square of
recognition
mapped round
eyes , nose
and mouth
the rest of the
face says
nothing just
plain deception
like waist or
hairline would
never lead you
back to who
they were
its the smile
the jokes
the kindness
in speech
and the
bravado
finds them
for you
talk of shared years
discarded years
ago and that
soft space
that soft space
mapped round
eyes, nose
and mouth
stood as
they always
were each
to the other
dunes that
belie a
lit city
beneath

The music for the reading is from the second movement of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 17 In D minor, Op. 31 “The Tempest” (“Der Sturm”), interpreted here by pianist Hélène Grimaud.