Just The Two Of Us
Not sure just when I decided to double down
but when I did it was such a rewarding relief
I only wish I had done it years before.
I started to study Schizophrenia
about the time my brother brought me
all those authentic African masks.
Sitting there next to the fire's glow
the masks grew twinkling eyes
and I could just make out Kilimanjaro.
The fine red wine and companions on the wall
gave me a sense of great comfort for
my fantasy journey to the Serengeti.
When the travel log arrived with Mary's
photos of life on the coral reefs of the South Pacific
I could feel the warmth of the sun, sand and sea.
As I basked in the sun beside my pool
I remembered that my former graduate student
gave up a research career to travel.
I sat at my computer with Jazz music providing a typing rhythm
when I got the e-mail from my granddaughter that she, husband
and kids were off to their time-share in the Bahamas.
Quickly I searched for my passport
which has expired unused
and unrenewed again.
So there I sat green with envy
jealous as a jilted suitor
much too secure in home comfort.
It is clear from my college textbook
that I am schizophrenic
and that there are two of me.
So out came the gem-cutting textbook
and on page 711 it tells how
to split a diamond.
What good fortune, perfect split the first time
and now there are two of me
as if cloned.
The provincial me stays home in the warm, cozy nest
the cosmopolitan me leaves that nest
and goes and goes with Maria the Wind.
Doug Minnis 11/4/13
291 words