Throw out the shared life
Life I always dreamed of
Throw open depression’s door
To assault the senses
To behavior that loves one minute
Savages mind/body the next
To days of hope/even laughter
Until mania hurls them skyward
Descent shivers windows to wall
Words shatter oneness of heart
Actions speak louder than anger
And little tempers the uproar
Sympathy owns no place in us
Its syllables ignite/incite
Despondency knows no season
Wildfire unyielding
The other’s turbulence mine
Drought that shrivels the rose
Let’s find peace elsewhere
Yet serenity’s not a place
I gaze longingly at six ranges
Peaks placid/last of the Rockies
Rio Grande’s Indian Country
River of unwinding legend
The other wants only oceans
Tidal storms in minor keys
What to do with harmony’s days
Days I wish last forever
Dreams of shared life
That will always be dreams
And little more
Dick Altman writes at 7,000 feet on New Mexico’s high desert plain. A Pushcart Prize nominee and a poetry winner in Santa Fe New Mexican’s annual literary competition, his work has appeared on four continents. He has in progress two collections of some 150 published poems.
