The Other Half

it is not the way you planned
to begin; an admission before
positing this solemn submission
seems less a canny route

saying, “you are never less
than half my thoughts” sounds
profoundly inexact – if at all
possible, and obtusely quaint

there’s a je ne sais quoi ‘pure
vulnerability’ in those words
for sure but their import might
be too easily misconstrued

a statement of intent with which
one proves truth by well meant
and easily observed activity
the saint in you assumes

while the lawyer asks wryly and
with sang froid of long standing
familiarity, “well, what is it that
occupies the other half then?”
© 19 January 2010, I. D. Carswell