Like Cabbages in a Field

Like Cabbages In the Field

Who ever thought death
could not be held at bay
Are not children sustained
by the decay of our bodies
like cabbages in the field
nourished by dead fish

I have rebelled against so much
without realizing the abruptness of forever
I should have been more aware of you
smelled the perfume of your hair
your child's skin.

We parted so many times
without thought
of returning
else I would not have left but
pitched my camp on your lawn and
lived the life of a wanderer watching you
following you everywhere you went
even to your dissatisfaction
just to fill my cup of you
in preparation.

I ask if will we meet again
as if it were the first time
as at your birth
Or is this separation
a lesson in forgetfulness
merely the confiscation
of a life-giving part of me.

If I could reanimate you
by doing so
I would amputate every part of me
I would give you even my memories
leaving nothing for myself

For in navigating
between this place
and yours
I have learned something-
There is numbness
in forgetting.