Duane Anderson - Three Poems

Lost in the Fire

The couple held up a sign

“We lost everything in the fire.”

Maybe they wanted money

from everyone who passed by

as they sat on the steps of a building

but he did not see another sign asking for money.

He passed by and

walked across the street

to a store that sold greeting cards.

Purchasing a card,

he addressed the envelope to

“The people who lost everything in the fire.”

since he didn’t know their names

and walked back across the street

and handed them the card

telling them his condolences

for their loss.

He walked on.

not waiting for them

to open the card.

He didn’t care to know

their further thoughts,

after all,

they already had his sympathy.

Where’s the Pooch?

Today I was asked twice,

where’s the pooch,

where’s your dog,

as I took a walk alone.

People were used to seeing me

with my dog

since I usually took her on

two to three walks a day

depending on the weather.

We were a well known

neighborhood staple.

One wasn’t seen without the other.

Now I can only tell them as they ask

that she is no longer alive

having lost the use of both hind legs

due to a disc disease.

I continue my walks.

Maybe not as many

though the pace is much faster now

since I have no need or desire

to sniff at every little thing crossing my path.

We were a twosome,

one of the threads of the neighborhood.

As life moves on,

the memories remain.

Tell Me My Name

Even as I sat listening to the song,

I did not remember the melody

or hear the words sung.

My concentration was in another world

somewhere I know

I have been too many times before,

but still I am unable to describe it.

It is like seeing one of my best friends

on the street,

who calls me by name,

but I do not speak his name

because somehow I cannot remember it.

Time passes,

the thought remains in my mind

until I remember the name,

then the thought quickly passes,

like questioning yourself

if this is your right street address

or correct phone number.

Sometimes we momentarily forget things.

Sometimes we never sit down

to learn them.

Duane currently lives in La Vista, NE.  He has had poems published in Saga, Poetry Now, Telephone, Lunch, Touchstone, Pastiche: Poems of Place, Fine Lines, The Ibis Head Review, Omaha World- Herald and several other publications.