Romance

Leave your blues 
in your shoes
by the door.
She wanted a house,
she paid down
on one for me.
All I did
was name the cats.
It was easy.
Names are names,
nothing more.
Before I knew
the pipes were full
of ice
I went to the store
to be a plumber.
The neighbor knew
a guy I paid
to get the water
running.
He had a blowtorch.
I sold my tools.
I bought this
useless vein of
blood running
full of words.
I hope
they make a picture
for you.
They do, she said,
I see animals
in the eyes
of your letters.
Some one of us
two comes home,
what we call
the house now.
Even sunshine
opens the door,
a little wind
mixed in.
No love, no blues.
No door, no shoes.

(19 March 2013)

copyright 2013 by Floyce Alexander