Here, There, Again

Ask me.
Ask me again.
Tell me more.
Drifting away again, washing up on some distant shore
Unfamiliar territory, but isn't this a familiar position, darling?
Always a little far away, a little off, a lifted corner
And veiled meaning.
A lilting song brights my spirits a moment here or there

My turn to disengage.
Watch me disappear.
Eyes shining, hold me still
Hold me here
Close and tight.
One last footprint left in the snow
Right where I thought it might be.

Ask me.
Tell it again, the story of that time by the lake
Mysteries we made out of mud and mist
Tales we twisted out of reeds and grass
Glass water, our only audience.

Somehow we grow closer, through this.
Somehow we get from here to there
One path or another, it doesn't really matter.
Sparks fly wide, in time or space but not both.

Minor keys rattle between my ears,
Through my grandmother's laugh, through a screen door
Shattering windows that never quite crash all the way down
Whispers tangle all together, their cool watercolor storms
Bring me to my knees again.

Trading in my hard-won tokens for winding strands of real gold
Few and wondrous
But I wonder whether I was better off with brass coins.
Whether my imaginary prize was more precious
Than the jeweled thing I hold


Third string.
Muted laughter.
Strangled meaning.
Nothing fits.
It's all too much.
The death of the sun.
Last march.
Orange defeat.
Splendorous.
12-bar Blues.