M.K. Lee's Blog: Telling Tales, page 34
January 30, 2021
All The Parts Of Him – Epilogue
Grover
Grover is half-aware of the TV playing in the background as he dozes on the couch, the softness of fur beneath his fingertips lulling him to sleep. Budge, their rescue dog who is now about six months old, has decided his lap makes the perfect dog bed. Who is he to complain?
He feels Budge sliding from his lap at some point, thinks he hears an excited woof somewhere in the apartment but is too far gone to get up and check. Perhaps he hears the door too but still doesn’t stir. It will...
January 29, 2021
Glitch
Is there a glitch in the machine?
Usually it runs so smoothly,
Even when input is lean.
But lately,
No amount of oiling will make it turn –
Was there some step in the programming
That I missed, and failed to learn?
Or an update in some code that I must have failed to read?
Or expectations of output that will never succeed?
This is no labour of love.
Perhaps it was a feature installed
But never activated.
Or simply just a product recalled.
© M K Lee
January 28, 2021
All The Parts Of Him – 4
The thing about being married to Grover is that Finn knows he’ll never have to feel alone again. It isn’t only about falling asleep curled up with the perfect furnace that Grover is on cold nights, or having the reassurance that Grover will be there for him, no matter what, whatever it is that he needs. Grover left work early to bring him salted popcorn only a couple of days ago because Finn had mentioned thinking about it at lunch and not being able to get the taste out of his mouth.
But bei...
Shades Of MeWound
“Are you sulking?”
Irwin turns his shoulders away from Amir just enough to answer in contrast to his emphatic, “no.” Amir’s snort of laughter does nothing to improve Irwin’s mood.
“Oh, really?”
A soft kiss to the crown of Irwin’s head before the sofa dips beside him has Irwin looking up and trying not to smile.
“Let me see your wound.”
Amir draws Irwin’s hand into his lap, gentle thumbs either side of the gash on his palm.
“It’s just a papercut. A bad one.”
“We’ll need to a...
January 27, 2021
Sanctity
Savouring droplets of rain on my tongue,
Sitting at the foot of a tall old tree,
Sheltered by leaf from clouds hiding the sun,
There’s nowhere to go and no one to be.
Once I would have feared being lost like this,
Out here in the wilderness, far from home.
Turns out isolation is not abyss.
Sanctity in silence, being alone.
To think of tomorrow shows anxious haste.
Recalling yesterday is pointless too.
This moment is mine, and my time to waste.
A moment of solace, not to review.
Seasons may c...
January 26, 2021
All The Parts Of Him – 3
Grover
For Grover, there is nothing quite as peaceful as waking up with Finn. Sure, some nights Finn clings to him like he’s the one with an excess of limbs. And of course, when it’s hot outside Finn flails about like he’s being tickled, pushing him to the edge of a bed with a you’re too warm.
Then there are the nights when nightmares come to haunt them, leaving them both cranky, and irritable. Though on those occasions they both gravitate towards the couch, which is where they curl around...
January 25, 2021
Done
It’s the moments that matter.
The seconds, the minutes, the… moments… in between.
Like the burst of a spring shower,
Or a run of greens at rush hour,
Once noticed, once forgotten, though never unseen.
It’s the gestures that linger.
The touches, the doors held, the hugs unrequested.
Like a pill taken that remedies all sorts of pain.
Or just the nod that says, you don’t have to explain.
Always noticed, never forgotten, but, who’d have guessed it?
The moment’s gone.
The moment’s done.
Becau...
Raife and Dexter Are Getting Married
Raife and Dexter are one of those couples who make lonely people reach for a bucket of ice cream and watch Bridget Jones for the hundredth time. They also just happen to be getting married, in the most perfect of venues, surrounded by their closest family and friends. Life couldn’t be better for them. They have good careers, a beautiful house, and still make heart eyes at each other because they are so ridiculously, sappily in love. Doesn’t it make you sick?
They really do have it all. Ex...
Conglomerate
Craig worked in the finance department of an international conglomerate. Quincy made furniture from recycled materials. Craig was vegetarian, and Quincy felt cheated if his dinner included no meat. Craig was shy when dancing unless drinking, yet Quincy always first on the dancefloor. And there was love, so much love between them. A shared outlook on the world around them, and a patient ear when that world too miserable to bear alone. Happy, in every way. Which is why those who love only melodram...
