A Fine Place

(from the napowrimo prompt: write a poem that meditates, from a position of tranquility, on an emotion you have felt powerfully.)

Let’s talk about loss.

I’ve lost my place in

countless books and poems

and I’ve lost

friends along the way.

I lost at spin-the-bottle once

but a Venetian alley is a fine place

and I’ve lost

other thresholds as I’ve aged.

I lost five dogs while

weeping openly

and I’ve lost

that early lovey feeling.

I’ve lost my mother in

the heavy shroud of morphine

and I’ve lost

my father out in the wilderness.

And, of course, I lost my youth to

my ticktocking timeline

but I haven’t lost

the summer morning in my soul.