Always With

Always with the words, always with the pen,
Always with the fingers upon the keyboard,
Always with the thoughts, always with the clang
Of time on the kettle on the stove, always
With the conversation held back, always with calls
Across rooms deserted and full, always with
The nonsense of rain in the background to enter
Memory instead of what was always supposed to be
There, always with the movement of pencil
On blank paper, camera shutter flicking off
The days, photographs with faded descriptions
On the back that no one can read, always with
The words that are lost, with the words that
Can never quite capture what it is, what it is,
What it is we want to put our names upon, always
With the knowing that because it is our name,
Because it is our name, because it is our name,
it is worthy of the jewel we did not seek
Beyond price, always brilliant in our light
And in its own, always with the words that
Cannot describe it, always with the promise
Scribbled on parchment, always with the words.

–Shaun Perkins