John-Ward Leighton

LAPSES IN YOUR SYNAPSES

these days a word, a name, a title
will be on the tip of my tongue
like so much spittle
and absent minded you forget and
want to be forever young
the words, the names, the titles
come to the top
when it no longer matters
and your image lays on the ground in tatters
and what you thought you knew
is blowing in the wind
and isn’t in the pages
of giveaway newspapers
flapping on the sidewalk
under your chin and it does no good to get up to drown in your memories and start again
your past is solid and can’t be undone
your present is a pavement pillow
and your future is as fluid
as the coming rain
was the conversation important
or only as entertainment for a morning coffee
cause life is what happens
while you were making other plans
and the conversation
goes on regardless
of any
lapses
in your synapses