poems online

She remembers how his hands found her
how they wore the signs of outside
he has not worked in a while
she wonders where the infant is
they keep talking to, wonders about his name
Sam Henson, she repeats like prayer, like
Lullaby, but that was not his name
that was her first love, or the name of a character
in a western show she used to watch
Oh, they played with the plastic guns together
She tells the guests about Sam against the will
of her fleeting mind, but they are keepers
no guests are in sight
paid to attend to the sound of her slippers
as they shuffle over the concrete floor, calling.

I have never felt this way before
the tremble stem feeble
and seeking breath
with the heart pooled in
places oozing the names
of the ones passing through
when the light hits our faces
we become whole
possessions for the dawn
whose cool coyote hum
kicks the colossal promise
open
add this day here
to the leaves in your back yard
to your “hurry home
the rain is coming soon”
you do all of the hard work
a type of prayer
locked into the space between us
Doesn’t arriving sometimes feel just like leaving?
the one’s you’ve loved
on the shore line
gazing
at light within
the gaze
lost, forgetting what came before,
hesitant lovers
closing the circle from inside
this time.