I did, and still do, I wonder
not just about summer thunder
rolling over the steel silos
and green hills;
What do you see
in the mirror; and in me,
When I miss
you like the bees when they flee
from night’s cold breeze?
What is it you see in me?
I double-take
you at the portmanteau door.
Waiting for the hot summer nights ahead,
my neck aches when it turns too fast
when you enter the room and walk
to the front, seizes the chalk and talk:
Teacher, teacher
soothe my ear; teacher, teacher
turn my stone heart soft.
Teacher, teacher, teach me why
the poor have even less.
And I more.
Borders are only grooves
not just lines that move;
Then, when
you tell me, you tell me, you tell me,
about your day, after dusk, chat, chat
at night, kneeding no kneeding
needing no pills to soothe my ache
for my bad case of double-take:
The coolest cat we knew, knew.
Philippe du Col © 2025
Credit (and gratitude): “Doctor, doctor” Robert Palmer, 1979
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