Sliding Puzzles

When you slice an apple down the middle,

it splits clean into halves.

But the tang of its flavour can linger for hours.

 

When a room is reshuffled

to accommodate one person instead of two,

using the space to its full potential,

still the ghosts of memories surface

when you least expect it.

 

A promise of constant,

when what was needed to move the rain

was change,

however painful

the adjustment might have been.

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And here we are

The scum around the bath is easily scrubbed away,

the ceramic clean enough to be white again.

Paint tins, brushes, rollers –

evidence of our romp with the walls

clear for any onlooker. Sweet sugared soap

purges away the grime of long life,

Artex to mask the imbalance. Spongy bounce

under our feet. That’s more like it.

Spread our toes to feel the pile. New.

Home at last.