Forgive Us

I must've heard this story enough times but every time it seems like a warning 

It's like you're always waiting for the other shoe, but time will pass anyways 

A marriage between unexpected things is there such a thing as cruel miracles

An old Pontiac bounced over a hole in the distance

Shrinking into the asphalt in an instant amongst pools of crushed glass and burning rubber

Light curved across his cheek tossed into this forgotten field of sunflowers withered and yet to be

A generous emptiness

In this predawn hour and I pity the grasshopper

How scared you must be, could you give me your hunger, your anger? 

Creatures who learn how to survive in deep and dark places

Forgive me for my trespasses

Buzzards who have their own will 

When did we stop listening to the land?

You never kept any photos, why are there no photos?

We spend all our lives storing things away and you do this? Are you self-created?

She sat on a stool flyswatter in one hand and ladle in the other 

There are mashed potatoes and okra on the stove humming a language of their own

A language of condolences

Bringing herself back into a trance 

The tea kettle spits as you pass and pecans make this tin roof sing

Accidentally telling the truth

Is your home my home? Sat around dressed up in formalities 

Whose turn is it now? 

After the wake prayer was practice even in long drawn out sessions fading in and out 

Like a tickling that never becomes unbearable

It's never as quick as you want or as slow as you fear

To practice believing in what I can’t see 

I do hope someone’s listening

Maybe I wanted to live a little more than I thought I did

To learn how to ride a bike