HEART IN A CUP

 HEART IN A CUP

So here is what's up,

In my dwelling, my abode,

in the middle of a depressive episode,

Here is what I remember

On the day after Christmas in a lonely December.

I found the shape of a heart

Had taken form in the bottom of my coffee cup.

What did it mean I wondered

As through another day I blundered.

I'm ashamed to say I still can't break the code,

As I travel my forsaken road,

Of what that heart was trying to say

Or the message it conveyed.

Maybe it was a message from my beautiful mother,

From her place in the clouds or the atmosphere,

Or my beloved but reserved father,

Telling me I was still his son,

That he was proud of me and what I'd done,

That he forgave my shyness and reserve.

All the times I lacked the nerve to rise and say I love you.

Maybe it was a message from Ernest and Ann,

The parents of my partner grand,

Who took me in as though I were their own,

And gave to me a second home.

Who now have.passed into the ether,

Who reside in heaven's fragrant heather.

Or maybe it was my beloved dog Lee,

Knocking me off my feet and licking my face,

Bounding through the house and greeting me at the door,

Though he's been gone ever since 2002,

I feel his absence and keenly too, both now and evermore.

With all these I have unfinished business that eats away at me,

Not present enough, restless impatience, fear and uncertainty,

These are just the sins I could remember,

On the day after Christmas in a lonely December.

Oh how I wish it could be 

A case of strange sweet alchemy,

A message from beyond the grave,

This wayward soul to come and save,

Or God in a coffee cup showing his face,

Imparting his wisdom and his grace.

Not just some random cloudy cosmos blunder.

For now I guess I can only wonder, only surmise,

The meaning if any behind the surprise.

What could it mean, drinking my coffee up,

Only to find a heart at the. bottom of the cup?

-Bruce Potts

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