Changes





You are my superwoman, he told me,
wrote dozens of letters to prove it.
We wed at Pearl Harbor,
arched swords heralding our joining

...the most exciting woman I know, said another,
pulled the car over to kiss me
It's magic,  ELO echoed on the radio.
Volume up, I joined them,
head tossed back, hair twined over my shoulders.

Come wander with me, the next one said.
Jobs quit, belongings sold,
we set sail from the commune, our home,
my cat our reluctant companion.

Black waves swept us past Jersey.
Dolphins swam circles at Beaufort,
and a wild goat raised his eyebrows with disdain
at this couple daring to tresspass his atoll on the Banks.

I will wait for as long as it takes, said the next,
then took my hand and wooed me.
For me, not my first love, 
but how I hoped  it would be my last.

How heady I was,
doors opening whenever I asked.
Little did I know then how fast things could change,
wipe out all I held dear.

And yes, I know all the phrases,
the words an illness soon teaches.

This too shall pass

All I have to do is get through the next five minutes

True friends appear, 
surface ones leave
now I know which  is which

I am Spirit, not body

I have learned the routine,
ways of coping  with this giant 
who has grasped my soul, 
changed my life...

and I have come to uneasy terms 
with the changes.

Yet  there are times
when I would give almost anything

to once again grasp a tiller,
seas plunging beneath me,
salt air sweeping my face

bike to the ocean at dawn
when the water is still fluffy pink
legs pumping madly, hair flying behind

to flip on a radio,
belt out a song

turn the head of a man

to walk down a street
and feel the sweet rush of life enter again.

Oh yes........almost anything.


Pris Campbell
copyright 10/1/2000


Painting : Head of a Woman by Khnopff
Music : A Whiter Shade of Pale


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