The Way the Sun Glints

I didn't know. I'm sorry you've been shot.
My life has been a wrecking ball of fun
While you've been in the hospital. That gun
Was certainly your enemy. I'm not.
I told you I hate guns, hate them a lot,
Fear them, complain about them, always run
When they come into view. The way the sun
Glints off their surfaces — let them all rot.

Now there's a good idea: firearms rotting
Slowly in the sun, an orange mess
In corners of the lawn. I must confess
I've been out playing polo, I've been yachting
With the boss, while your blood wasn't clotting,
And I'm sorry. I was wrong, I guess.

Heaven's Heaving Heights Unchecked

"Patience masks/Our ruins of wrecked past purposes." G.M. Hopkins, from "Patience, hard thing!"

You said, "Patience masks our ruins of wrecked
Past purposes." Does that mean it's a sin
And not a virtue to be patient? Win
The argument, lose everything; protect
Your true beliefs, lose everyone's respect.
So let's just have a beer, you'll be the kin
Of hops, of holy happiness made thin,
Of hopes, of heaven's heaving heights unchecked.

No, let us understand each other, please:
Let us not write for sound alone, not choose
An empty voice, pretend we're leaving clues
To meaning when we've made an obscure wheeze
And called it poetry. This is a tease,
A needless difficulty, a dark bruise.

My Moral State

You may be right about my moral state.
There were some things I claimed that can’t be mine,
Some precious metals that had lost their shine,
Balloons I never knew how to inflate.
The embers there, still sizzling in the grate,
Have never been huge flames. That was the wine,
The big talk. No one ever saw a sign
Above my bedposts, when the hour grew late.

The hour is early now. I’ve seen you weep,
So my dark, heedless work is done, I’m through
This passage into morning. Here’s the dew,
Wetting my socks — even my shoes are cheap.
There are some promises I didn’t keep,
Some things I should never have said to you.

Nothing Resembles Love

Nothing resembles love. No man returns
From the attempt. No woman ever waits
A long enough time. A balloon inflates,
Then blows around the room, buzzes and churns,
The sound of tongues flapping. And no one learns
Love's lessons, since love lessens and berates
Us foolish mortals for our foolish hates
And longings, all that our stray loving earns.

We spin, we rest, like the planet we spin,
Joyous and desperate, enslaved and free,
Peace in our souls, hearts full of contumely,
Desire in ice, certainty made of tin,
Knowing only what got under our skin:
Nothing resembles love. Please don't leave me.