Phone Call from a Cloud
Did you kill that
lasting question? come
up with a tangible
response? Fifty-one
percent isn’t bad, just
isn’t a
sure parade, isn’t
veterans marching
in rows or city fire
trucks draped in
flags surrounding my new dogwood
tree. These provide a photo
record
for the living, something
better
for the heart than
something
missing.
Yes,
a river can boil over,
can rise up like hell,
can make things
change. Clouds can blow
over the neighborhood
at any time, can
take down
the sun. Can you answer for
that phone call now?
explain
why the cat prowls
instinctively?
I can think
clouds do this
before they bring
old rain.
I once told you
I would be OK.
You would be OK.
Chances were good
I would come home smelling
like summer, like holes in the sand,
like the great steaks we seared
when the last war was done.
-- Memorial Day, 2015
