June 29, 1993: I said goodnight to Elaine and kissed her intercepting cheek

Thirty years ago today

            On Tuesday I thought that I might be watching my daughter but Nancy decided not to come down. I did some cleaning and my laundry. I worked on Yehudah's astrological chart. I went out and made some photocopies of the Alphabet Orgy group poem and also of Moon charts from my astrology book. That afternoon I headed down to The Rivoli for my date with Elaine. I got there a little after 17:00 and sat writing while drinking a Red Baron. I finished transcribing all of my writing to the little book and was working on my derivative of the Orgy group poem when Elaine showed up a little after 18:00. She had a club soda and I had another beer and then we went to The Bamboo Club where she bought me dinner. We talked until 22:00 and then I rode with her to up to Dundas and kissed her goodbye on her intercepting cheek. I walked to The Last Temptation for the poetry open stage. I read two times and it seemed to go over well. I sang "Seven Shades of Blues" and got a big applause. I also recited my poem about my daughter.

My Child and the Kite of My Heart 

In frustration I go through the wreckage 

in the wake of my child's weekend raid 

and as I sigh neath the weight of the task at hand 

cut a path through the mess that she's made 

with each item put back in its proper place 

as the chaos is made to make sense 

both my home and my heart groan a little more 

in the hunger pangs of her absence 

My child throws her arms around my legs 

to shake the tangled kite of my heart 

back into her hands again 

On weeknights sometimes I wake up with a start 

and I notice that she isn't here 

then I call out her name but I get no response 

and charge into the dark flayed with fear 

But then I wake to the realization 

that's she's back with her mother tonight 

so I go back to bed in my empty home 

to wait till she comes back for her kite 

My child throws her arms around my legs 

to shake the tangled kite of my heart 

back into her hands again 

I stand as the voodoo idol 

that receives all the pins of her tears

that fly out when her mother's too busy for her 

and without warning her drops her off here 

It's a great tug of war with her love's wishbone 

and I always get the sharp end 

but she can't take a parent that seriously 

who competes with cartoons on the weekend 

I'm shut out from her life like the presents I've bought

that her mother throws out in the shed 

My child throws her arms around my legs 

to shake the tangled kite of my heart 

back into her hands again 

            I asked Tanya if she'd like to collaborate some time and read each other's poetry on the open stage. She said she'd be really into that.