Wanderer returns:
I wonder how my face now
reflects in his eyes
Journey concluded:
Has travel changed the view
in my direction
An important friend returns from a long journey.
A rarity in my life yesterday
I watched a new life
I studied it intently
I studied all her tiny-isms
Like the edges of her closed eyelids
Those smooth closed eyelids, their warm olive tones
Bringing to mind her mother’s lineage
The shape of her nose, wide and flat
Like the ocean her ancestors crossed to be here
…
I toss through the night
I wake feeling restless and uneasy
So before I make that same short drive
That I do all seven days of the week
I turn the dials a little higher this time
…
The deep black brought me another
In its chemically-induced night under the sun
Unlike the last, this one more recent
And rather than lightly sad
This one bitter
…
Small round white escape
Summons temporary death
Bringing short relief
Waiting for closed eyes
I wonder who the deep black
Will bring me tonight
No one is invincible
And for someone with that much love
That needs a place to go
It really needs to go
…
The drugs eased, but still
My heart rate slowed to a new low and sleep returned
This time dreaming of the return of a long lost friend
…
Eyes and hands reach with
Nowhere to go but forward
Blind to one’s own heart
8:50 pm
On observing the particular journey of one close and dear.
Persistent spring chill
The birth of an evening star
Sparks warm new prospects
A sleeping guardian stirs
The alerted sentry opens an eye