From the collection And Don’t Come Back, 2021.

Rise to This Day

By the time we get there
we will have accumulated
a bag of blistered sundowns
to shake out over your clean table
then fall asleep over a hot dinner
wait out a dreamless night
spend the dark hours
climbing endless stairs
into the hot morning.
The sparks drift up
Tendrils of pink sky creep in
through the windows
and begin to smoke –
Are we ready?

9/17/20