Distance & Separation Poem by Kurt Philip Behm

There is an emptiness
between Hemingway's words

A hollow sound
that slides off the page

The space creates distance
as the Old Man wanted

From the reader
and voyeurs of pain

"Distance between himself and the day
he hauled in that great fish

"Distance from that last great battle
calling out from beyond his reach

"Distance from the arena, where the
horns got close but death got closer

"And distance from the many women
he tried to love and failed"

No matter how far he lived afield,
be it Paris, Havana, or Ketchum

In no place was there distance enough
or where his words could be safe

The separation and memory loss
became deafening and finally too much

As he gave in to the distance
—one last and final time.

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June,2016)