Geoffrey Brock

And Day Brought Back My Night

It was so simple: you came back to me
And I was happy. Nothing seemed to matter
But that. That you had gone away from me
And lived for days with him—it didn’t matter.
That I had been left to care for our old dog
And house alone—couldn’t have mattered less!
On all this, you and I and our happy dog
Agreed. We slept. The world was worriless.

I woke in the morning, brimming with old joys
Till the fact-checker showed up, late, for work
And started in: Item: it’s years, not days.
Item: you had no dog. Item: she isn’t back,
In fact, she just remarried. And oh yes, item: you
Left her, remember?
I did? I did. (I do.)

Geoffrey Brock
And Day Brought Back My Night first appeared in Poetry, Aug. 2004 (vol. 184, no. 4).

Poem, copyright © 2005 by Geoffrey Brock
Appearing on From the Fishouse with permission
Audio file, copyright © 2005, From the Fishouse

Posted on June 30, 2005 5:59 AM