One Second Behind(For Junie) Poem by Dónall Dempsey

Memory takes
the chair

places it perfectly
in mid-air

yet erases the stair
that brings me there

forgets to sketch in
the rest of the house

the storm is placed
just outside the window

(just as it was)

livid with lightning
the voice of the thunder

the window appearing
out of nowhere

a wall a little
unsure of itself

appears & disappears.

Memory still holds us
curled up together

the chair's pattern
imprinted on your skin

each one not knowing
where one ends or begins

your voice

creates the story
& I

intently listen
unwilling to miss
a single syllable

the poem written
upon your breath

memory as if obcessed

attempts to recover

what is...lost

puts it back
bit by bit

until it almost
achieves a perfect

fit
but
not

...quite

Death erasing
every scene

as it is
written

memory desperate
to attain a perfection

arrange and re-arrange
it again.


Death always

one second ahead

memory always

one second behind.