When Yesterday Is Forgotten

When yesterday is forgotten,
she releases butterflies from her fingertips.
When yesterday is forgotten,
he grabs a small guitar from a trashcan.
When yesterday is forgotten,
the pimp walks the park for no reason,
the convict votes,
the dead are praised for their wisdom,
and that is silence.
When yesterday is forgotten the lovers
snuffle in the long grass, cut grass, beach sand
-- roll me another
-- when yesterday is forgotten, the child
is just as happy. When yesterday is forgotten,
it doesn't matter the price of gas. When
yesterday is forgotten, fruit collects its own
flies and melts in its own sappy spit
with no help from you and me. When yesterday
is forgotten we become students of today,
and there is as much to know about today
as yesterday.

Copyright Louise Robertson