To Georgia ... From Arizona
The Georgia clay bank
would surely erode
Except for the Chinaberry tree
standing stark against the sky
A sunflower bloomed
outside my patio door
The sunflower was you
September, somehow the saddest of months
except for October —
exquisite, mournful October
Bringer of beautiful Autumn
Now the mid-life crisis
takes a strange and different turn
Some would say I’m crazy
though I would tend to doubt it
Living on the fringe of civilization
like a desert cat
I expend little energy
to find my food
Trying to keep in touch
with the few friends I have
I feel everything slipping
away from me
Would you please
keep me informed
of any change of address
Even after you marry?
I promise not to interfere
with your new life
Just to know
where you are
how you are
To hear from you
once in a while
will be enough
I can find
the minor key
in any song
Because
I live my life
in a minor key
Becoming used
to the freedom
of being alone
I sit and suffer
I mull over
all the things
that have happened
And wonder why
God, I have become
a desperate scribbler of lines
Who doesn’t know whether
he creates or not except for
A simple declarative act of love
Besides,
every word
once spoken
becomes a cliché
My head is full of poems
But they won’t come out straight
They are muddled
and mixed
and unintelligible
I lie on the desert floor
Looking at the Arizona night sky
Looking at the myriad of stars
That appear so
clear and clean and close
Enough to touch
Maybe if I could
Then the thoughts
should come out
clear and clean
Perhaps if I could touch a star
A poem would come out right
I love
this Golden Land
of Eternal Sunshine
But I’ve had enough
Of sitting in the sun
A sunflower bloomed
Outside my patio door
The sunflower was you
—Bill Matheny