Condensation on a Windowpane by Dannie Abse

Found in Dannie Abse's 2010 collection Two for Joy

1

I want to write something simple,

something simple, few adjectives,

ambiguities disallowed.

Something old-fashioned:

a story of Time perhaps

or, more daringly of love.

I want to write something simple

that everyone can understand,

something simple as pure water.

But pure water

is H₂O

and that’s complicated

like steam, like ice, like clouds.

2

My finder squeaks on glass.

I write JOAN

I write DANNIE

Imagine! I’m a love-struck

youth again.

I want to say something

without ambiguity.

Imagine! Me, old-age pensioner

wants to say something

to do with love and Time,

love that’s simple as water.

But long ago we learnt

water is complicated,

as H₂O, is ice, is steam, is cloud.

Our names on the window

begin to fade.

Slowly, slowly.

They weep as they vanish.