Ode to Fluffy
goodbye fluffy
we hardly knew you
you were here
just a few
ordinary weeks
on your way
from a feral life
to a new home
with an ancient woman
whose husband died
on the couch
she waited
you never arrived
it sounds absurd
to say it hurts
we will miss
your grey eyes
the color of nothing
from this world
you were wild
and happy to be
for a time
that turned out
to be the end
resting with us
the ones who gather
in the morning
in the kitchen
to ritually hold
the milk and argue
it came amid
the usual commotion
we all heard
what you said
we never knew
what it meant
you had a pain
we couldn’t help
you were destined
for the earth
in the backyard
a solemn moment
playing silent
music all around us
Poem for Engagement
when they left we were not so sad
and everything continued
a little question inside us asking
where did those young ones
and their baby blue egg
the nest is empty
the wind shaking it
and lately we have to the grocery store
been walking thinking yes
I silently agree
everyone worships us
because we have declared our love
they think we have stood before the Parthenon
and silently pondered
the philosophical questions
actually we were talking a lot
about what we just had for lunch
and arguing why some wine is green
green wine like the ocean
would taste if it weren’t full of salt
each day I drink a mouthful
my own life my secret mountain
I am never going to climb
I am going to tell you
something incredibly useful
to remember next month
when I am flying over Omaha
and you are in bed listening
to what is not there
though I know no one
in that city it will for a moment
seem to me as if I am going to meet
a friend who will say a true decision
is one you do not understand
