Settlement After a time, (Some 19 years or so), I asked him, Boldly, And straight out, If we had a relationship. He denied it flatly. Relieved, I went on loving him the more. Edward Hughes Misplaced Where are all those things? I can't remember. Still, I have the symbols. What were those things like? We were not acquainted, But I painted pictures. How many of those things were there? I reach for the matchbox. What could those things mean? We need to talk. What about? Squiggles, daubs, and matchsticks. What about those things? I lost them long ago. Edward Hughes Ascendancy When Mother died there was an absence. It wasn't her; Mum's still a fixture In many a memory, Each sharper than mine. Her's was a life taken In its unsuspecting flow, Before appropriate time. This yawning gap Served as a warning: Fickle fullness leads not to resolution; Everything must some day drain. I now look for lightness, Not light. I'm eyeshut to fleeting image, Immune to all experience, And r