The Last Word
       

You know how to kick me when I'm down.
But whenever you do
                                  all the love in the world dies.
Your face should be in jail.

Darling, my holy lonely, you
                                              can have the last word.
We haven't even begun
To shame ourselves,
                                I want the last word.

We should die of shame.
Every trembling leaf
                                and lover would be better off,
And there are so many
                                    and only two of us.

The little pond down the road is ashamed for us,
Look at that placid face
                                      dimpled by rain—
It's too ashamed to ask
                                    what kind of monsters are we?

Everything we learned we learned from shame
In childhood,
                      which is more deeply ashamed
Of us than ever,
                          we are so infantile.

I've never felt farther away from you.
                                                            How can love be?
The score is even and care is gone.
Shame on us both, on you and me
                                                      the sky falls down.

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Copyright © 2012 William Olsen All rights reserved
from Pleiades
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission