Seymour Shubin

A Fish Story

About Lying

My mother used to say it
When I was growing up
But I never really understood it
Until I was, say, about thirteen
Or so.
And what she used to say was
“I hate liars,
A liar and a thief are the same.”
Like I say, it sounded good
Though I didn’t really understand it
For years,
That a liar and a thief are the same
Because they both steal something from you.
How true, and I try to live it
Even though it puts me
At a disadvantage.

THE REUNION

He’s back with family,
Mother, father, sister.
The silence of the meeting
And then what we can only
Imagine.
Do they touch?
Do they kiss?
Do they talk?
But do they even remember who they were
Or what they are?
Is she still his mother
And the father with all the jokes
Can he still tell them?
And his sister, she’d had such pain
Is she smiling again?
But do they even know that I am
Here?
I leave a stone in case they do

The Reunion  © Seymour Shubin 2012

The Bet
by Seymour Shubin

I guarantee you, he said
At the end of his mother’s funeral,
That the dead will meet,
That they will look in full health
To each other,
Just as they were.
Oh yeah, I thought , and where
Do I collect if you are wrong?
But that was then and this is now
And oh how I miss her
And how I want to give
His money back.

Originally Publihed as The Bet Poem

NOW I LAY ME…