“Unmask” by: Maxence
…are we really happy here with this lonely game we play
looking for words to say… Leon Russell
O utside
the evening breeze
freshens
copper windchimes
hanging from the eaves
ring from time to time
inside
we sit with dinner
and complacency
there is little resonance
meal finished
we clear the table
unspeaking
task done
we part quietly
me
to my desk
to write
you
to your chair
to read
outside
sunset
softly shades
the side deck
tubular bells
quietly chime
in gathering twilight
inside
soft shadows
blanket subtle activity
outside
a wakening wind
greets day’s end
chimes
vigorously keep pace
inside
turbulent indifference
veils your face
as I write
I wonder
are we happy
are you happy
16 years my junior
if we are
why is it
we do not say
do we mask with silence
to hide
to hide the vulnerable face
of love
or to hide the emptiness
the lonliness
how dangerously foolish
this emotional masquerade
should I speak
rouse you
from your pulp and plot
should I
lift my mask
should we both
before our love
slips silently away
but what to say
what can mute hearts
share
what is there
to say
perhaps
it’s all been said
so I go to bed
I hear the car door
as you drive
into the night
outside
tuned copper
chimes in darkness
inside
silence
rings aloud
*
rob kistner © 2021
Poetry at: dVerse
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Sting, with Portland OR’s Chriss Botti on trumpet