We sat alone in that cottage by the sea --
you crying through your bony shoulders,
me quietly comforting you,
a long way from home.
allaying your headache
with small doses of *****.
i'm trying to fix you, I am,
but the teapot broke last night,
and there's grass growing up
through the cracks in the floor.
you were in the rocking chair when you said
"I've forgotten what your voice sounds like"
and I broke down.
it's so loud, the ocean as it ebbs and flows
I pushed just one wave back
and expected the whole of the seas to
bow down to me.
I'm sorry that we didn't have more time.
I'm sorry that I was too late.
But I'm mostly sorry that I dug myself up
when you needed the roots firmly in place.
the selfishness that I keep close
has too small a space
to sustain life.
I enshrouded you with a heavy blanket,
draped it across those bony shoulders,
but you maintained your gaze
into the distance.
across the water,
into another continent.
I'm sorry this wasn't enough,
but i'll leave the door unlocked.