New verse by Wellington writer Helen Heath.
That’s it
We kiss goodbye in the morning –
a peck on the cheek and that’s it.
Then the phone call, like a bad movie.
The next time I kiss you goodbye
you are cold and still, and that’s it.
Afterwards it’s mostly paperwork
– the big events are ruled by bureaucrats.
I am alone with a freezer full of casseroles.
I wash one plate, one glass, one knife, one fork.
The carpet is a cloud that barely holds me
as I walk across it, any minute I may slip
through in an endless freefall.
Helen Heath, 2018
From the new collection Are Friends Electric? by Helen Heath (Victoria University Press, $25), available at Unity Books.