ALLEN, poem by CAROLE CHRISTINA JACOBS, Wales, UK

ALLEN

You say it shatters glass,

The way I call your name,

Two syllables hurled up the stair,

Or across the field,

Hard as stone, no preludes to soften their way.

Like flat pebbles sent skimming

On the surface of a frozen pool

I watch them hop and skitter

As they find their mark

And crack the ice

Of your inattention.

                                      CAROLE CHRISTINA JACOBS