Poems

Bare Branches
A fugue

The branches are bare outside my window.
It has been many days since we slept here.
I try not to watch
the little hand move through the day.

The branches are bare.
Outside my window I see stars begin to form.
They mark another day
gone since we slept here. I try not to measure
These mornings I don’t wake in his arms.

The branches bore leaves
for a season. The stars formed slower in blue sky.
It has been many days since
we slept here.
The morning won’t wake in his arms

and I rise in a bed full of night,
try not to watch my little hands move
through the day.
The branches will bear leaves again
and outside my window stars form.
Here we will sleep for many days.






Because You Love Me

I will spill drinks.
I will break things unceremoniously,
stick my foot in my mouth,
but never chomp on my tongue.

Because you love me I will forget some,
but never the scars you hold;
everything you say in quiet darkness.

I will say the wrong thing,
still sound awkward on the phone,
bang my funny bone.

Because you love me I will sing in the car,
challenge yellow lights.
I will tell you off in jest or no –

I may have one drink too many,
burp like a man,
eat with my hands, order squid,
wrap up restaurant dinners.

Because you love me I will stay where you are,
be the last voice you hear before sleep.