Say Goodnight Michael / Grotto by Michael L. Newell

Say Goodnight Michael

            (for Jill Stanton, Kimberly Lively, and Anna Maria Shortt)

 

"You," she said, "can never just say goodbye, turn

and leave.  There are always more words, more

things to do, more time to fill, until

someone finally just shoves you out the door."

 

I thought about this, then turned back

into the room: "You," I began, "don't

seem to realize that each new avenue and alleyway

of conversation leads to another and another until

we eventually find our way back home.  Of course

then we must retrace our path, particularly

if the journey was an exciting one.  So you see…"

Three pairs of hands shoved me out the door:

"Say goodnight, Michael."  The door closed.

 

"But I wasn't finished," I said

to a passing neighbor who entered his room shaking

his head and avoiding my eyes.

 

"I'm never finished," I muttered.  The cat

in the hall window yawned and stalked off.

 

 

 

Grotto

 

That deep wound, that gorge,

where all lost loves and beliefs

flower in the steady

rain of inconsolable memory;

 

those who visit and stay

too long disappear

and return only

in the cruel rains of autumn.

 

Michael L. Newell has recently been published in Jerry Jazz Musician and Bellowing Ark.  His most recent book of poems is Don't Fret, a book of jazz poems.