The Cancellation

Steven Graves

Men less sensitive have struggled with this:
the breach in which our lives are tailored
for disappointment: the long wait in queues
as the drama is sold out. We ponder
our calendars and are troubled. We will
stand in countless scenes at piers and platforms
paying homage to the receding face,
the small receding face. Days after, walking
to the market or mornings in the gray office
we will rethink our multiple replies.
We will rehearse a more sufficient speech
for strangers, for friends become strangers.