Mark McCormick is a writer, painter, and yoga instructor living in San Francisco. Professionally, he is retired from a corporate career where he managed large digital design teams. He has a fledgling TikTok channel @markdoespoems.
I Just Wanted to Say
I want to say something about magic
But I don’t know what to say
Except once I was reading a poem about a peacock
And one landed on my deck.
I want to say something about ghosts
But I don’t know what to say
Except when I was eighteen I saw one
And he was wearing a brown plaid blazer.
I want to say something about lust
On that I’m an expert.
It made me break the law once or twice
And that’s all I’m saying. Wait for the movie.
I want to say something about God
Only I’m afraid.
But once on the Ganges my boatman’s oar
Thudded on a dead body floating.
I want to say something about mother
But is there anything left to be said
Except once I had a drowsy therapist suggest I should just accept her as she is
I rolled my eyes and never went back.
I want to say something about whiskey
But dad was the authority
There must be fifty ways to hide your liquor
I hide mine behind these lines from time to time.
I want to say something about truth
But I have no idea where to start.
I’m 57 now; check back
In 50 years and I’ll try.
Before I go I want to say one more thing about
Mothers and God and the spirit and ghosts and death and truth and the Ganges and whiskey and whatnot.
I released a candle on a flower on that river, then your ashes in the heat of the flames by the crematory ghats
I cried once and for all. Finally I got you to India.
I guess that’s what I wanted to say after all.
