i am the woman
who
saves cards and
old ribbons
in cupboards with
pale blue jars
spins trees
from yarn
and tales
from saplings
sings louder than
bold crows
just to see them cut
black sky
burns bridges
and receipts
with both indifference
and aplomb
carries all of it
up hope mountain
to send down
avalanche and thrill
looks in the mirror
and understands:
loving you was never
my maxim
: :
i did it anyway
: :
twenty-one years later
that’s what we call it
not nine eleven oh one
not September 11, 2001
just
nine eleven
two words
three digits
two towers
four planes
thousands
of
mothers
fathers
daughters
sons
sisters
brothers
wives
husbands
aunts
uncles
girlfriends
boyfriends
not statistics
falling
from
the
sky
not dates
or where were you’s
just whole hearts
in odd numbers
each one
the only necessary
evidence
of love
::
.
.
.
windows
wide open
for a moment
of fresh
inhale
exhale
bounce off
horizon
bird song dawn
and sunset singing
we’re all here
spreading green
it’s all new
all old
the same
same
circle
always here
lending
a hand
…
twenty years later
that’s what we call it
not nine eleven oh one
not September 11, 2001
just
nine eleven
two words
three digits
two towers
four planes
thousands
of
mothers
fathers
daughters
sons
sisters
brothers
wives
husbands
aunts
uncles
girlfriends
boyfriends
not statistics
falling
from
the
sky
not dates
or where were you’s
just whole hearts
in odd numbers
each one
the only necessary
evidence
of love
::
.
.
.
i built a new corner
and walked straight into it
left the paint on the floor
drying
held my arms high and my head straight
buried the forgotten
forgave the remembered
worshiped nothing
but silence
and the tenacity
of trees
throwing spring green buds
into air
like so much
confetti
squirrel fight
dove coo
blue jay belligerent
.
skin soaking up sun
anti mirror
wide smile
prismatic
.
desiderata
forgotten
.
and she walked
the center line
straight past the pond
of forgiveness
.
the right thing
is almost never
the easiest thing
and i watch you
doing everything
the hard way
taking root
in the furrow
of new growth
this morning the sun
strode straight past
the center of longing
we’re both here
(or there)
dawning
…
nineteen years later
that’s what we call it
not nine eleven oh one
not September 11, 2001
just
nine eleven
two words
three digits
two towers
four planes
thousands
of
mothers
fathers
daughters
sons
sisters
brothers
wives
husbands
aunts
uncles
girlfriends
boyfriends
not statistics
falling
from
the
sky
not dates
or where were you’s
just whole hearts
in odd numbers
each one
the only necessary
evidence
of love
::
.
.
.
morning mirror and happenstance
pulling hope down at the corners
of a month meant for introspection
snow blows sideways against a window
curtained
a sparrow fights for survival
everyone, everywhere
arguing about books
and this is silence
holding tight
to a morning
short on light
showing up
as always
never quite
arriving
.
is buried in alaska
i know this because
you told me once
sitting on a square picnic table
beneath a dry dark sky
lit with acid green borealis
cassiopeia and orion
the only witness
to a wedding meant
for other people
another time, another place
blah, blah, blah
you get the picture
just a far off
long gone
atmospheric memory
rippling light and music
to lovers in a land
we’d only dreamt of
we watched in silence
for hours
those hours,
cradling minutes,
the quiet,
bone cold
seeping up
through cheap
cracked boots
and hol(e)y
handmade
mittens
