Saturday morning.
The place is full of plaid and wool
and white-soled footwear.
I disappear in
black. I don’t hear the tyrant’s
name in all their words–
perhaps forbidden.
No voices are raised. Instead,
the remedy for
this emptiness, light
rain outside draws attention
from what I can’t change.
Author: Tom D'Evelyn
Tom D'Evelyn is a private editor and writing tutor in Cranston RI and, thanks to the web, across the US and in the UK. He can be reached at tom.develyn@comcast.net. D'Evelyn has a PhD in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley. Before retiring he held positions at The Christian Science Monitor, Harvard University Press, Boston University and Brown University. He ran a literary agency for ten years, publishing books by Leonard Nathan and Arthur Quinn, among others. Before moving to Portland OR he was managing editor at Single Island Press, Portsmouth NH. He blogs at http://tdevelyn.com and other sites.
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Metaxyturn Diaries 
Where this place is, and who ‘they’ are, I can’t tell; nor who the tyrant might be or why their name might be forbidden (although I have no difficulty in supplying my own answer to these last questions). I can readily understand how a light rainfall might provide the perfect distraction from an emptiness that cannot be changed. I find that a deeply satisfying observation (it reminds me in particular of the British poet Philip Larkin’s High Windows). I’ve enjoyed reading this poem several times, Tom.
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The opening contains references to garb associated with Portland Or, and by extension, a lifestyle oriented by physical activity in the outdoors. So that answers some of your questions. The other — who IS this tyrant– is intentionally hidden for several ‘human’ reasons. And I’m glad you like the final image– it took a lot of doing!
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Oh, right. Portland sounds like a place for runners, cyclists, etc. Much like NZ to which we go every year where half the populace is moving about rapidly in garish Lycra!
Yes, I thought that concluding image was most successful.
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