Age – Page 35 – Iron Haiku

as my eyesight fades
I think I finally see
my destination
–
a grey heron-
motionless in the
standing water

now all that remains-
the sweet taste of success and
your cherry lip gloss
–
fresh cut grass-
an old blanket and
poetry

doe-eyed sycophants-
suckling at the teat of
this festering pig
–
overcast-
the lack of sunlight
goes unnoticed

lying in my bed
beautiful and poisonous
twisted in the sheets
–
african sun-
death lurks
in the tall grass

all I have of you-
the crossword and a ring left
by your coffee cup
–
saplings-
rooted
in the shade

looking back in time
pictures of who we once were
under cellophane
–
rich brown soil-
an old green tin
a child’s treasure

she turns a shy smile-
a web of hairline cracks form
in his tough facade
–
cobwebs-
broken plaster
litters the floor

holes in the floorboards-
the regal oak panel door
left hanging askew
–
no longer a home-
dim autumn light
caught in the cobwebs

wide open prairies
the promise of a new life
in every acre
–
covered wagons-
homesteads built
on sacred land

the knife in my back
carved the windows in the walls
I’d built for myself
–
creeping ivy-
ruins of stone
foundations