Ode to Jeanne Choquette

by Robert Hogg

O Jeanne
how perfectly we lay
naked       not
together you
with Mike McLean me
with Sharon it was
quite a honeymoon
night on Vine in
Kitsilano
I remember
all high on pot you
me and Mike also
high on meth
you stole from St
Paul’s Hospital
             shot up an amp
apiece and danced
all night
as they say two
and two but never
crossed thighs never
flowed
directly
except the blood
we shared
vicariously
             fell quietly
in love but never
said what was really on
our minds       and you
now suddenly dead
from hepatitis
silent forever
in sad Vancouver
a terrible coast
away       me out of
hospital but still
in throes of recovery
here in Buffalo
campus infirmary
bound to live
             when all I want
is to lie down
gently in
the garden of
your mind my sweet
Ophelia
             whose petals are the sign I pick
             at the edge of the pathway
and scatter now
in memory of
your bright and shining
life more love than
any of us in
your flashing
eyes
and smile