Two Poem by Joe JG Hall

I remember the afternoon dull with heat
the magnolias wilting and white
too hot to breath too hot to sit still
the bedroom windows too hot to touch
the painted floor split by seams of light
sharing a cigarette sharing secrets
waiting until the air had cooled
waiting until we could breath again
untangling while you brushed your hair
separating our wills becoming two again
we walked past the gate and the cobbled lane
into the street still white at dusk
you showed me the window on the top floor
the room where you were born
the same room the same picture on the ceiling
the same painted floor our footprints there
side by side in the dust.




19 October 1998