gone

I cannot find my rhyme

where did I put it

seems as though it’s gone
long gone

it’s always been
just there
so I could use it anytime
but I must have turned away
just for a minute
and now it’s gone

at the closing of a day
in the middle of a night
when I saw lovers
hand in hand
whenever there were clouds above
fogging up my mind
or when I felt an urge
to sing my song
it was always
there
right there

maybe it’s on the road now
thumb out
hitching for a ride
down to Melbourne
I can just see some trucker
on a roadside with travelling friends
suddenly declaiming
in couplets

it might have got a ticket
to journey on a train
playing a hand of poker
in the dining car
sipping a scotch
and matching rhythmic movements
with the sway

or queuing at an airport
in a line to have it’s passport stamped
for Vanuatu or Noumea

Hawaii

chasing a long held secret dream
of placing toes
deep into the sand

but I have no clue
to where my rhyme
has gone
it’s no longer where it was

I thought I’d always know exactly
where to find it
but it’s gone and now
I’ve only these few
paltry
free associations
to replace it
because that rhyme is
long
so long
gone

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© Frank Prem, 2010