The Art of Tetman Callis

you are still here
a root grown tight around a stone
a persistent dream of dark-eyed women

you are still here
in this chair you used to sit
in this plush and tattered chair where years after you were gone
i found a long strand of what could only have been your hair

i did not keep it
you are right here

you are here the way a parent is present in the face of a child

i hear my child’s footfall in the kitchen
he is pouring cereal into a bowl

(Copyright 2023 by Tetman Callis.)