I saw you coming
Years ago
Did you see me
When I closed my eyes
I closed my eyes
To everything but you
For a millisecond
Did you hear me
Talking to you
From the rocky edges of an island
Over the surf
Did you hear me
Calling out in the meadow
Where the swallows’ swooping
Mends the air
By different names
I knew you
I saw myself
Becoming discouraged
And I knew that we weren’t ready
We have so much to learn
I see the line of troubles
All the way to the horizon
And I want to move on
But I left something at the bottom
Of the cliff that I just scaled
And I have to go back for it
Risking my life again
But there is even a line
For the cliff
A ten year old is scaling now
Just a little spot of blue
2
We have some friends sailing over the sea
With a few other families
Always within sight of each other
They have been crossing open water for three weeks
In their blog
The children report their coordinates
They chant their heading
They charm the weather
They friend the wind
They report what they had for breakfast
How bright the stars were shining
During the watch
While their parents slept
(I remember Kontiki
How the ocean guided them
How the flying fish
Flew into their pots)
3
I can only hear one white noise at a time
The bathroom fan
Or rushing surf
But the blue noise is getting through
And the red noise is spilling in
And the green noise is growing
And the yellow noise
Spreads faster
Than an ink blot on the void
4
After everything
Things should be much simpler
To the future I must look like a child
Each time I blink a color
Washes through me
Everything we see
No matter how far off it seems
Is just a childish fantasy
Of what we wish or fear
While we wait in line
To scale the cliff