Rent Free (cycle)

A Quiet Place

I have come to understand my love for you.
I came to you like a man
looking for a quiet place.
A few old houses, the abandoned church,
the river…good fishing.
How I’ve longed for a place like this!
As soon as I got here, I knew I’d found it.
Tomorrow the set production
and camera crews arrive.
We can begin filming on Monday:
the story of a man looking for a quiet place.

Winter Evening

As we get older we become more alone.
The man and his wife share this gift.
They make love or they quarrel.
They move through the day,
she on the black squares,
he on the white.
At night they sit by the fire,
he reading his book, she knitting.
The fire is agitated.
The wind hoots in the chimney like a child
blowing in a bottle,
happily.

Armchair

I have a large comfortable swivel armchair.
And if I turn it one way
I can see the large-screen tv, and
if I turn the opposite
I can watch the colorful birds
at the feeder.
I suppose it would be more correct to say
that I prefer the birds, but in truth,
I view them both about the same.
Of the things in this poem
I like the armchair best.

Pleasure Drive

I used to drive most of the time.
but old age caught up to me. Now
my wife does most of the driving.
I’ve discovered that I like being a passenger.
I have time to look out the window
and at the people,
the trees, the buildings, and the clouds above.
My wife likes it too.
She’s honed her skills at moving through traffic,
and she is not opposed to speed now and then.
We strap on our seat belts,
she hums sotto voce to herself.
It’s “The Ride of the Valkyries,” I think.
And away we go like a bat outta hell.

Tonight the Full Moon

Rises above Lake Superior,
All sad and luminous.
and filling me with joy. How many times
have clouds obscured the sky
in the last fifty years?
And how many times have I been lucky
enough to see the moonrise like this?

Physical Therapy

Because I am feeling pretty good today,
I say to my therapist
I think I’ll live, at least, five more years.
She said,
“You think?”

Rent Free

I don’t get around very well anymore.
I’m unsteady on my feet.
I can’t sit in a canoe anymore.
It hurts my back.
I have trouble sleeping.
My speech is sometimes garbled.
Reading is difficult; no ability to concentrate.
My feet hurt, and I have very low energy.
So these days I live mostly in my head.
You could live there too,
if you need a temporary place to stay,
It’s quiet, And there’s lots of room.

-Louis Jenkins