ELISHA

A bed and a table and a chair and a lamp
You said
And I said Elisha.
A bed and a table and a chair and a lamp you said
So essential and precise I said
And how superfluous all the rest.

A bed and a table and a chair and a lamp
How suddenly my blood ran dry
And I was white as the room,
As the tears.
A bed and a table and a chair and a lamp
Touched me like the very clarity of heaven
Touched the bluest chord.

You said nothing Elisha
Nor did you lean over me.
A bed and a table and a chair and a lamp
And how superfluous all the rest.

ELISHA