Trio
1. Lake
A day in the country
Herb and I in a rowboat
Except I can't swim
Despite the lake enticing
Herb says jump right in
You can grab the boat
Or its mooring rope
You'll soon swim
So I jumped but stayed near
Cool water icy fear
And the fear held sway
I did not swim that day
2. Matchmaker
For Herb a painful favor
Some words with Jean
To bring the two together
Did I not suppress desire
For myself just silence
But verbal for the other
And the service rendered
Love children marriage
Modest happiness quiet
But darkness not long later
His body lost to Hodgkin's
Sweet Herb gone forever
3. Jean's Cousin
A rage of rubies
Summer coral ebony gleam
Body like a flame
How could a straw man
With tongue of sand
Presume to love her
Now only time's pity
The memory of pain
And blandness without her
4/2-4/19/97, 4/16/98
Copyright 1998 by Maurice Leiter
Posted with permission.
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