Reckoner
by Ron Ogilvie


Reckon on this --
        You can count on me,
        Finger by finger
        Line by line
        As I write for you.
        You have tied me and untied me
        Knotted me like a cord
        Dropped me overboard
        Pulled me in, taken my measure.

        I would bring you everything
        Anything you want or need
        And I'd take your payment
        Touch by touch:
        On account of love.

        A guy I knew
        He told me
        That loving was
        Putting peas in a jar
        Keeping count of intimacy
        Laying in a harvest
        Against days of famine
        But I've found love
        To be countless
        An infinite progression
        Integrating from the first to the last
        We two, approaching one
        And all we are together
        Marks me, leaves me scored
        As by your nails.
        I am your lover
        I am your memory
        And half of me is yours.                                                                           Return to Archive