I wrote it this morning, and it just so happened to also fall into today’s prompt: “a poem that centers around an encounter or relationship between two people (or things) that shouldn’t really have ever met.

As for the others out-of-order, I’ll post those over the weekend (if I can remember to schedule it!).


You are really here!
Sit down; I have much to tell you.
My mother is/was/will be a huge fan of yours;
Your voice will save galaxies.
Um,
Excuse the confusion
While I slow down time and explain:

She died, my mom.
But, she rebuilt herself,
Modeled her hair after yours.
And we’d listen to your songs all the time.
I inherited her love.

I see we’re to be joined by your friends
So I’ll be quick–
You inspire so many,
To the point where someone’s kid
Falls backward in time
Just to meet you.
Because you never gave up.
The sadness and pain are merely fire.

The iced tea is sweating.
In short: a necklace token
To use in the future;
I love you.

Now finished,
I’ll snap my fingers.
Time will resume
And you won’t remember
Any of this,
Not yet.

But seriously, I’ve been riding that high since I saw her in concert.


…maybe I should write about that. Meanwhile, a poem.


floating, almost


I want to feel that again,
The wonderful ache in my heart
To mirror floating through water
Into a dream of not-home-anymore
But you are there
Loading the car, because
I’m just dreaming.
Fantasy and reality collide here:
The sky is a meteor shower.
The grass bends into waves.
The house, odd angles, and comes in threes.
We’re characters who loved each other and will again,
Once I write 100 words
For each of the myriad orbits
In flying, or string ensemble, or sinking.
So reach for me while you’re dreaming,
Remember the last time we fell together,
Kissing away nightmares
And content with this magic,
Almost floating like she does.

We rest, but still worry how


To live in the mountain,


How to carve the walls thick enough


And climb up, inside– stone-made steps.


We got here from following our mother’s torches


Illuminating novellas.


Old tales, probably impossible,


Of industrial gods defeated


Yet the earth mourns– still metal, after all.


But still– don’t destroy yourself, we plead;


Find the house and stop fighting.


Everyone is tired.


My fingers know repetition


From minutes of execution.


And I will make mistakes.


So I will not rush.


I just want to make parallels, callbacks, bookends, music;


Now with the lights out there is nothing to see.

A part of me still daydreams


Of what could have happened to you


If you kept music theory and frequented the stage,


The audience of mismatched furniture and beer,


Not discovered, but to just be known.


You used to be so beautiful, two things, raw


Not made for me but ultimately,


That doesn’t matter.


You could have been


On a tiny screen, big enough for


People to know the words.


Do you, still?

Caution, here; go slower than

A candle melting down

Unless you seek

Something other than what you need,

Tired eyes closed– rest, then

I recommend you go by feel.

Caress what skin you’ll find.


Why are you in my dreams?

Other bodies, too busy

Running out of reach I feel I’m

Running out of time.

Inside my room

Evening blurs and I can’t remember how

Scarred the finger-trails made us.


Come closer,

Obey what soft commands are left.

See how I’ve stopped running with

My heart out of breath.

I held to an implosion and

Caused a universe to freeze.


Closer, dawn breaks

After another midnight.

Released are the stars and the words

Embark on frozen journeys–

Slowest thawing.

On the shores of roped-off swimming spots
I remember you from all the pens I never collected
the contrast from the blue houses
Complimenting the white trim
I write in red tint
Now more honorable, more informed


I could have been
On those still nights
Beautiful with you


I never healed from that October
Always cold, not quite frozen
Melting from your pink hair


I ran ahead
Into the shadow unknowing
Loneliness becoming
Written sensual unseen by you


I found out who I was
But you’ll never know
you left the lost roads
Stapling images to trees
From backpacks full
Addresses broken
Someone else has your name
I left mine alone
She kept driving
We left our bathing suits at home


Morning still, this
Filling in blanks
No closure, unresolved, this.

From the green world


Floating beyond collapsed stars


I glide for many, many years


For so long, time stopped for me.


And when I arrived


In another galaxy


A gate waited for me


In welcome:


“Salutations. Rest here


and you may see old friends.”


After the shaky landing I walked


Their corridors,


Searching for the ones I’ve lost,


The echos of those I left behind.


These people were near my age.


I’ve crossed doors and platforms and storage and


No one else.


Except


One voice


Stopped me mid-step


So I turned and saw


Someone


(her)


Long dead, to me.


An android, to me.


This one did not know who I was,


Just where I’ve been


With a system update.


And so, I spoke our password


And her camera-eyes blinked in learned recognition.

And still, I dream.
She told me of the man
Haunted by floating steps and
Math, lights down for one year.
How he exclaimed her to be
A Victim
But her age knew better;
You’ve heard this before.
We jotted down the spell and
Cast
Into depths, turned shallow.
Tweak your methods-
There’s no tradition, there.
And as I dream
I remember
The broken pencils,
Traded for ink and gossip.

Jan. 28th