No Difference In Memory - After Reading Li-Young Lee Poem by Warren Falcon

for Karthik


I am flying.

I am falling.

No difference in memory,

the smell of rose oil in your hair

my body can find even in the dark


its scent upon me when I awaken

is the cup alone I drink.

I shall go on drinking when

you leave before dawn

departing to another life

I cannot live but only steal

from mysterious bankers

who lend but never give.


I am not free of this cup.

I have stolen it to remember

milk and a scent of rose

entangled in black hair.


Put me on any cross then,

one of two thieves beside any

good Christ and I'll be with Him

in any paradise above or below.

When He says, I thirst,

if I can reach with nailed hands,

I will gently touch it to his bruised lips

and say, Take. Drink. Drink it all.

I return this cup to you.