Michelle Bishop Writes

The theme for Day 12 of the November 2009 PAD Chapbook Challenge was to write a poem entitled “If only (blank)”, fill in the blank, and write a poem about it.  Here goes:

If Only the Possibilities Were Not Endless

If only the possibilities were not endless
I would not be able to imagine
All the tiny and great things that
Pass through my mind each day we do not speak.
Was it the careless remark I made that day?
Or, was it the time I didn’t answer the phone
When you called because
I was cleaning the bathroom and
Didn’t hear the phone ring?
Or was it the ex-girlfriend
Who looked you up on Facebook and
Started reminiscing about those old college days?
Or was it the ex-wife?
It could have been the ex-wife.
Or, could it be that I shared too much
Too soon and didn’t make great efforts
To hide my flaws because it seemed
Disingenuous to pretend that I was perfect
When, well, who is?
Maybe you were abducted by aliens?
Wishful thinking, perhaps.
If you were abducted by aliens, then I could
Put to rest all the amazing, and not so amazing,
Ideas that pass through my restless mind.
If only the possibilities were not endless.

M.B. – November 2009