If you were to see me on the street, lover

by Marian Veverka

Would you remember and by me a beer?
Or do you think of me as that crazy woman
Who kept demanding that  I love you,
Really love you
Singing along with all the old
Songs on the jukebox (I always played the
Love songs,) did they whisper in your ear?

Simon and Garfunkel, when they broke up
I realized that if two geniuses couldn’t make
Their music together any more, what chance
Did we have, you with all your friends,  and
Me sitting at the bar alone, drinking any kind
Of beer they had on tap.  You called yourself
Crazy, but I was the one who spent time in
Rehab – was that a turn-on for you?

“four in the morning, tapped out– yearning…”
You were the one who couldn’t sleep, kept
Me awake – I still don’t know what you were
Longing for, whatever it was I hope you found it.
 I hate to think of others you might have hurt
Through all those years.  Now, seeing you again,
The old question remains – is it you or is it me
Which of us is the one who always will be

Still crazy after all these years.

Explosion in the afternoon

by Marian Veverka

Our old man can explode with anger
Over the smallest dumb thing
Like a gallon of milk left sitting on
The table
The fridge door not closed all the way
Someone’s shoes sitting empty in
The middle of the living room
And the TV still on

He’d use real cuss words
So loud the neighbors could hear
And scream back for him to shut
The ----- up
And our baby sister woke up crying
And mom yelling because we woke
The baby

I’d take off running through the back yard
Down by the old bridge where the train
Tracks crossed the swamp
And imagine myself a hobo swinging aboard
A slow train to China
Or any place far enough away
Where all you’d hear was the chatter
Of crickets in the tall grass

The ghost of a whistle from the days
The trains still ran.
There weren’t so many babies
And Mom and Dad would shut
The doors and be as quiet as the night.