Confusion

Confusion about where I put my keys
Confusion about the time on my stopped watch
Confusion about the date
Confusion about whether she would live or die
Confusion about whose loose change sits on the table
Confusion about what time we agreed to meet
Confusion about whether it is going to rain or not
Confusion about whether I kissed her as she lay dying
Confusion about the blue shirt or the white one
Confusion about whether I switched off the gas
Confusion about the year of my car registration
Confusion about which breast was first to go – left or right
Confusion about Stravinsky or Sibelius
Confusion about whether to answer the phone or not
Confusion about the time the game starts
Confusion about when exactly the cancer struck
Confusion about where I left the car
Confusion about who wrote that poem
Confusion about whether we agreed today or tomorrow
Confusion about the paint colour in the bathroom
Confusion about whether I said goodbye before she died

Cats stalk my brain

memories, like cats, stalk my brain
prowling tigers caged
devouring new bird thoughts
as they are born
I keep them there
too frightened to let them out
they may damage
harm or destroy
the things I want to
keep safe in my world
they pace around
they crouch low to the ground
they are almost onto something
but I push them back
my mouth is no escape route
they will have to wait
it is raining heavily
they move under cover
and wait
claws retracting impatiently

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