For my sister.
When I was a child,
My mother would take
My sister and I
Out in a boat,
Where we would float
Across the sky.
Those technicolor blue
Texas evenings,
Listening to cicadas sigh
In pulsing waves,
Shivering the world
Star bright.
She took us to the Gemini,
Lit green coils for the night,
Twining us in smoke
As we lay upon a blanket
Waiting for the light.
That distant music
From across the lake,
A sunken song of revery.
And my father's voice -
The man with no name
Speaking straight to me.
Going home
She'd hide us in the trunk
With her wedding dress and tailored history.
She'd never forget us -
She said - forging
Our sorrow in that tragedy.
We could hear her
Wondering where we were,
Calling our names as she jangled her keys.
Laughter gave us away -
She was always surprised to find us still there,
Adamant in her memory.
