Palm-sized
Box of mystery
Found half under the bed
Swollen with humidity
Slid the lid with effort
Crystal number nine
Prismed from fake light
At first I smiled
Thinking of John Lennon
Intoning “Number Nine Dream”
But then hesitated
What can it mean?
The Tao Te Ching says:
“To retreat after a job well done
Is heaven’s way”
Did you leave?
Was I your well-done job?
The I Ching says:
“Small influences
In a receding tide”
How similar the two are
No doubt now
You are gone
One last chance
The Tarot says:
“Nine is the Hermit
Only alone can one seek
The answer”
No! I know the question
Only with you could I find the answer
To hide the staring emptiness
I flick the light to dark
Left-handed waning crescent
Barely illuminating
Our once moon-struck bedroom
Safe starship buoyantly braving
The fourth dimension
But time’s clock stopped at nine
And now you are gone…
© Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)
