A Short Poem: For Amanda Onofrio Who Now Lives In Boston And Coaches Women's University Soccer … Trouble Here Now At Soccer Post In Cary Poem by Dennis Ryan

Wednesday afternoon, May 22, 2024 at 5: 46 p.m.; now, much later at 9: 52 p.m., the epigraph added from Thomas Hardy

"I say: ‘For all I know,
Wait, and let Time go by,
Till my change come.'—‘Just so, '
The star says: "So mean I—
So mean I.' "
—Thomas Hardy, "Waiting Both", from his Collected Poems

Amanda, you mean so much, still;
this truth is painful, makes my eyes smart.
Ask Baudelaire for answers that defy logic—
if you can disinter his corpse, interrogate it,
speculate vampire-like over his gravestone.
Be brief—I cannot explain my feelings at times;
I should be angry, hating you, but … it's just the opposite
right now as I feel compelled to write what I have to write—
it's like I have no choice in the matter. 'Wait', he had
said. 'Wait, wait a moment', the star's meaning following
Hardy's ready reply, 'For all I know, Wait, and let Time
go by, Till my change come …' I feel compelled to write
until change comes. Just wait a moment as the star had
said, and be patient with me, Amanda, as you never have
been before. Life is a revolving door … And you have
been patient; trust me further—I understand your situation,
what happened here at Soccer Post; I loved working
there with you there. 2017? Was it that long ago?
Yes, long years ago—I miss you. Truly. Truly. When
I call your cell phone number, I, well… well, let me save
my comments for a rainy, cold day as Boston has plenty.
Leave it to say 'There's trouble in paradise aplenty'—
meaning 'down here with the police, inside the store'.