"The Past" (Michael Ryan)

Date March 31, 2008

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[photo by Felipe Morin]

"The Past"

It shows up one summer in a greatcoat,
storms through the house confiscating.
says it must be paid and quickly,
says it must take everything.

Your children stare into their cornflakes,
your wife whispers only once to stop it,
because she loves you and she sees it
darken the room suddenly like a stain.

What did you do to deserve it.
ruining breakfast on a balmy day?
Kiss your loved ones. Night is coming.
There was no life without it anyway.

–Michael Ryan
from New and Selected Poems

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One Response to “"The Past" (Michael Ryan)”

  1. beverly said:

    April 1st, 2008 at 3:53 am

    Wow. Miss a few days and miss /a lot/. Now, all this good reading and I have to go to work. I’ll be back.

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