I Am Here

with Linda Pastan in mind

Because of what happens in the dark
because of walls and night-lights
because trees drop their leaves
………….into me like clouds their rain
………….into the waiting ground
and also because there is no cure for distance
because meaninglessness is
………….what we must wade through
because walls are walls
because walls are doors
because you and I are one word
………….we keep trying to say
………….when we lay down our heavy knives
because my grandmother’s gnarled hands
………….in her daughter’s home
………….still pick the lint off the catcher
………….in case the trees are wrong about fire