I Packed a Suitcase Full of Dust

I packed a suitcase
I put dust in it.
And then more dust.
I packed bits and pieces
Of what was still living.

I packed a suitcase,
A heart howled inside it.
A face stared up from it,
Its tongue wagging in the dust.

With each passing second
The complaints it made
Seemed more obsolete.
I packed a suitcase full of dust.

I went outside.
I was afraid people woul.d stop me and ask
Why I was travelling about with dust.

There seemed nowhere to go
But to another place of dust.
I do not want dust.
My blood is slow and full of dust.
And your kiss is dust.

I do not want dust.
Your breath has changed
Pollen into dust.
I do not want dust.

Now when you speak it is simply to speak of dust.
And what was once love
Flops about in that dust.
I do not want dust.

Swearing fidelity to all
That is clean and free of dust,
I pack a suitcase full of dust.

- Brian Patten