waiting

waiting by phil burns

Click here to hear the poet read his words:

waiting

there are nearly a thousand Tupperware things
I’ve no idea what they are for
there are pins and clips and bottles of stuff
that never get used any more

there is coffee and milk and sugar and tea
there is Vodka and there’s Irn Bru
I never drink any of these bittersweet things
they just sit here waiting for you

there are snacks in the freezer and up on the shelf
I could mix them into a sad stew
there are packets and cartons and tins of strange things
that sit here just waiting for you

there’s a pillowcase here that always stays clean
there is a TV that doesn’t get watched
there are towels in the bathroom that don’t ever dry
isn’t it sad when a life has been botched

there’s me and my face and my brain and my smile
and my eyes that grow daily more blue
there’s my heart and my soul and my life and my love
just sitting just waiting for you

there’s a man going off to a place far away
where he knows he will never see you
there are tears running down an old crumpled face
there’s a heart that is broken in two