New verse by Wellington writer Helen Heath.

 

That’s it

 

We kiss goodbye in the morning –

a peck on the cheek and that’s it.

Then the phone call, like a bad movie.

The next time I kiss you goodbye

you are cold and still, and that’s it.

Afterwards it’s mostly paperwork

– the big events are ruled by bureaucrats.

I am alone with a freezer full of casseroles.

I wash one plate, one glass, one knife, one fork.

The carpet is a cloud that barely holds me

as I walk across it, any minute I may slip

through in an endless freefall.

 

Helen Heath, 2018

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From the new collection Are Friends Electric? by Helen Heath (Victoria University Press, $25), available at Unity Books.