Proteus

They told
me

you were
two-

faced but
they

didn't know
the

half of
it.


*


A Distraction

There, there, we gently tell the child, when first we see a tear,
as if to counter pain or sorrow's too insistent Here.


*


Starkville, Mississippi

Even late
nights, only

the brightest
stars appear

over city
lights burning

too bright
even here.
 

*


Counterpoint

This lifelong failure to learn how to live
your loved ones learned long ago to forgive.

Robert West


If you have any thoughts on these poems,  Robert West   would be pleased to hear them.