affection

We climbed into different carriages at adjacent platforms,

sat at separate windows spanning the track -

black frowns (instead of the missed kisses)

thistle memory as the trains pull apart.

Starting with light load on my solitary travel,

I have it stored in a slack back-pack -

tackling the burden with heavy effort as the kilo

count mounts upward on a mental scale.

We sail a sea we polluted with futile pangs

of anger - the oil slick settles, spoiling

the pretty coils of coral which, otherwise,

we'd prize as ours to recollect in duo.

A thoughtless word delivered as we part

has turned on me, to crucify my heart.