Brother, husband, love,
Leaving this home, broken hearts,
Slipping sweetly to the stars.
Brother, husband, love,
Leaving this home, broken hearts,
Slipping sweetly to the stars.
Owning its beauty
With courageous strength growing,
Resting heavenward.
Seeds of summer sun
Gracefully giving their life
As we walk the path.
Seeking fuschia leaves
Spinning her lines at Tahoe,
Spider of Eden.
Emerging beauty,
Dark star alone in your joy,
Unafraid to shine.
Bordering between
Summer sighs and Autumn winds:
Unexpected strength.
Dragon breathing fire,
Her ugly heart consuming
Her life’s tarnished gold.
It’s mean kids again
Throwing sand in our faces:
Hypocrisy wins.
You resort to crime
To avenge imagined slight
Deep, deep shame on you.
Lifting the sheet and summer blanket high
While the morning air struggles to billow them underneath
As they sink onto the bedframe,
She remembers
When you taught a five-year-old gangly girl
Who adored you so and loved your hugs swallowing hurt and worry
Into your arms strengthened by years of cleaning
And softened by years of cooking and tasting for seven
And rounded by the weight of bringing five into this world
(A labor you called sweet and easy),
How to make a bed just so,
Smoothing out the lines to a crisp and fresh clean.
Now she allows the sheet to wrinkle and the blanket to hold stains,
A reminder that one year you are gone,
As her childhood and your protective love.