One Poem by Paul Demuth

 

TWINS

 

Same colour, model, make as mine.

I've often rammed my key into its lock.

 

The owner, whose identity

I have no inkling of,

Might shrink away sometimes like me,

 

Afraid of being taken for a thief.

There’ve been a few car-thefts round here lately.

 

I once unclamped a note on my windscreen,

A declaration of undying love.

 

No mention of the sender’s name

Nor mine,

 

But, after my initial shock,

I understood

 

And, spotting the identical Sedan

It must’ve been intended for,

Parked further down the slope,

 

I redelivered it,

Securing it under the wiper’s blade.

 

Tonight, from my unlit room, I see

The twins across the road parked face to face.

 

A segment of sky-blue is lit,

As my bonnet is suddenly bathed

In the headlights of the duplicate,

 

Whose driver’s face

Remains immersed in Night’s black ink.

 

At least, I think

That mine’s the one that isn't moving off.

Paul Demuth:  'Who am I?' is surely an unanswerable question for everyone but it's fitting, I find, that Whoever one is remains eternally enshrouded in mystery. I guess this poem is exactly about that.