23 August 2022, 13:35

On the first page
Of a red book
Easily overlooked
Amidst paintings and artifacts
From the artist’s personal collection
A few lines stand written
(Var står det skrivet?)
In capital letters:

   WHY DID YOU TEACH ME?
   HE ASKED...
   WE TAUGHT YOU BECAUSE WHAT YOU
   ALREADY KNEW –

Talk to me,
Jean-Michel
Are you “HE”?
Why does “WE”
Respond and not “I”?

First, you wrote “BECAUSE”
In black ink
Then, another hand
(Still your own?)
Swept in and struck it through
With red ink, writing “WHAT”
Did your English teacher
Have a bone to pick
With the question?

When she read what you wrote
Did she want to know your meaning
Or was she more interested
In you knowing hers?

How much time passed
Between black and red?

If I called Gary
Could he get me in touch
With your dear, departed soul
So you could answer my questions?

“Freshman Y--- P----- practices
In his garage at home to build enough
Confidence to break dance in public.”

A drug habit severed their souls
From their bodies
Died too young
I miss him.