Stay - Les Bernstein

[Larry Robinson]

Stay


on this colorless morning
a fog refuses to lift 
between shadow and substance
dark is calling to dark
 
pulsing with resignation
time is circular
a resolute everyday
the same until it isn't

ambushed by age
your tail barely wags
they say it is the right thing
they say it is the kind thing

now in stinging brightness
how small existence seems
a slumberous slip from life
a quiet grows louder

nothing outlives the familiar
we flare and we fade
in all time   in every time
it ends on an exhale

we arrive here
so soon
and I cannot write 
your name

Dutchess
Gypsy
Fivey
Sadie
Amos
Elwood
Jake

	- Les Bernstein