Revisited

And you
For whom now
I
Do not even exist

Do you also 
No longer recall
The flesh of my
Arm 
Beneath your finger
The scent of my
Neck 
On your pillow
Each morning

What a shame to let
Go
All that must be let
Go
In order to forget only
Well, only,
         Just
             Me

Jejune we were
And are, perhaps,
As one can be
Only
In middle age,
The middle way,
Now
That all the other,
So many other
Ways
Have crossed
Too close

But I remember
If you do not

That you always 
Lit my cigarettes
Fresh 
From a match
Not a Bic, and
Never, 
No, never
From yours

I remember
Laughter
Lying laughter
Legs linked at the knees
Maddened
By the charm
So much charm
All the charm
Of one another

And are you
Now,
One of the unseen five
Hundred?  My own
Tiresias
Blindly watching,
Wordlessly wondering,
Waiting only to see if 
You 
Are the ancient love
Of which I speak

No
I think not
No
I think no

I have learned
Across the years
Across these years
Across these oh so
So many years,
I have learned
Just how
Forgettable
           I
am

And just how
Dead
The forgotten
Truly are.

c.sdmrogers 13 june 2015