But Perhaps
I seem to recall a snake
that broke into my childhood home
but they tell me
that was before I was born.
I can see it cross the room slowly,
king of the moment,
till daddy hooks it on a broom handle
and deposits it outside.
If I was never there
how can I see its yellow-eyed dare?
Okay. Distance does disguise.
Someone shuffled the deck.
All the cards in my memory file
appear misplaced beside other cards
and you tell me stubbornly
“It didn’t happen that way.”
I seem to recall a snake
slithering across our bedroom floor,
yellow-eyed and venomous
.....but maybe that too was just a dream.
We understand differently,
meet broken promises
with the same skill as a plumber meets
a leaky toilet tank .....
patch it up neatly
while mentally composing the bill.
When the drip returns
he’ll be far away,
perhaps he was never here at all.
