We Were Bohemians Together
If you washed away the dirt
caked upon our faces
from days of unwashed contemplation
scraped away the paint and clay
crusted under our nails
from the endless hours of artistic toiling
washed our passion soiled sheets
dirtied by our insatiable desires
feed our many cats
from cans of royal tuna
we might tolerate your commonality and mundane insipidity.
But if you found us amiable
you might choose to change us
give us titles with fine jobs
fit us for suits and shoes that shine
trap us in a cozy cubicle
take away our edge
rebuke our rebellious natures
fill us with the standard fair
drill us full of rules and regulations
monitor our intake and output
make us content for less yet yearning for more
so you could reap from our sowing
punish us when we frown
make us march inline while holding hands
have us say “please” and “thank you”
forbid us from swearing or defaming
urge us to be the same as the same.
If you did all this then
we would never have been
Bohemians
and you would never have been
a Babbitt.
Memory
Our house once new is now falling down around us
the pipes are spent, rusted away by years of usage
rather than years of disuse - yet somehow we manage
to drink the cloudy water and thirst for it all the more
knowing from which faucet it was gathered.
The room that I have laid my head to rest each night
year after year, through sickness and in health
has remained the same sage green, only fading with time
the doors need a new coat of polish and the carpets should be changed
but I hesitate to change much without your thought upon the topic
how comfortable our bed still is, how it holds me safely as I sleep.
Time changes everything but what is important
memories will remain and flow when new ones will not be made
the absences become overlooked by the unending images
that replay upon the mind, the smile still crosses the face
at times the heart finds a gentle peace and there is trust
amid the noiseless dreams of what was and will never be again.
Susan Morgan Bosler, author of Bliss, Despair and Risky Deeds and Poems of Love, Desire and Life.
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