TIME TO GO

When the flag changes colors the language knows
When the month changes numbers it's time to go --Feist, "Anti-Pioneer"

A deflated balloon caught in a tree means
there was a reason to celebrate
a birthday
or a baby
a retirement
or a "Better Over the Hill Than Under It"

It could also mean that what once was full
is now empty

or that the lazy landlord needs to get a ladder

or that

SHIPPING OUT FROM BOSTON

You're out across the cobalt blue
only 40 miles away
but beyond my "Hungry, Hungry Hippos" grasp

Pretty soon you'll be so far
that my desperate swipes
won't even ruffle your clothes

But if my arms could reach
all the way from Plainville
down to Fort Benning, Georgia
my limbs might be cold
but my prayers would be warm

And with you

EXIT 18 ON 90 E

solitaire sky
shedding sparkles on the surface (of the deep)

I'm ready!

rise from the ruins

"A VERSION LIKE THAT IS OUT THERE"

A you
for me

Just knowing a version like that exists...that's gotta be a good thing, right?

That's got to be a good thing, right?

UNTITLED

i'm giving him everything unlisted
like a wedding ring
like a vow

NOBODY DOES IT BETTER

I'm in the most intimate space with God
crawling into His bed because i've been in every other
and His is just right
where He reads to me
and comforts
and quells my fears
and promises to lead me
beyond the bed
to a place of action
of verbs
of love

my tears absorb my pillow
and He takes note
without a paper or pen
i'm still there and that's where He meets me
between the pages
between the sheets

the ways that he met my needs
is what He'll have to provide
the love, the like, the affection
all these He does better
forever so much better than the world

THE TURNING

the brick reds come out before the ochres
as a flame is depicted in books--
red on the outside
yellow on the inside

then the lime and avocado
burnt umber
and all the other crayon names I can't remember