The Final Acclaim

by Joseph McCombs

I see you
Caging through small spaces of life
Searching for an escape hatch to salute, and possibly tempt
(Guilt lay hidden
 Under your fine fiction.)

I feel you
Clawing at the hands of the smoke-filled air
Pasted smile to appease the guests
Can you hold your breath until no one's left?
(Words were written
 Between your soft statements.)

          Diamond scene
          I'd love to know
          Whose past your harbor
          What attracts you so
          I'd love to see
          Your sometime shine
          And find a way
          To make it mine.

And I lapse into Toronto,
Its faded, beaten memory:
The endless sidewalk,
Visions of glass and finery.
All new sites to me --
And you were there.
Your stinging smile lingers.

Tonight, recalling my paled romance
Of winter'd Montana eyes,
Knowing their mirrors face elsewhere,
I leave frozen foottrails at your doorstep.

          And I bristle as you fade
          While the final cards are played...

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