SIERRA MEADOW
One day you may wake into a meadow
with no one in it: dark blue sky severed
by serrated granite worn razor-thin
from freezing weather, constant wind
and it will seem like heaven. Snowmelt
creek chortling in the sun, retelling the same
jokes to itself and the tall bunch grass
flashing its lighter side to gentle gusts
and you – alone. There is no one else to
feel it lift you apart from all the hands
that tug and beg, make fists and pray
so easily, yet you know you cannot stay
forever. At night, you will fall asleep
as you talk across the stars to someone dear.
Silently your mind speaks all the words
you couldn’t seem to share together.