portland window by phil burns
I gaze from the hotel window
at downtown sidewalks slick with rain
I know that soon I must leave Portland
and that I won’t be back again
the city sleeps on deep within me
its beauty reaches for my soul
my wanders often seeming random
are sometimes outwith my control
once again I’m enervated
fearing where I soon must go
my life recedes beyond my vision
hiding truths that I must know
my dreams now leave me quite unsettled
their meanings far from making sense
in this last I have a partner
against whom I lack defence
but when I stare back to my chambers
where I believe I spent the night
it is not she who lies entangled
but someone else unrecognised
other thoughts escape like whispers
not quite caught amongst the winds
intangible and half-remembered
they float away on silent wings
