The People Who Cannot Say Good-Bye

There are people who cannot say good-bye
They are born this way, this is how they die
They are the keepers of promises, what moves them
does not wear out
Their loyalty will tear apart your clocks
These are the people who can hear the music in songs
They are the vow carriers
The grandmothers who always leave the porchlight on
No one is lost to the one who sees
These are the women widowed
by the men they never married
These are the girls who wait
even when you don't come
These are the mothers of orphans
they can't turn a fake into an original
They will hear the prayer in your self-contempt
As distance is measured, people do not end
It is one of those stories
that cannot be written down
except across a lifetime of open doors
There is a holding on beyond letting go
There is a reunion in everybody's chest
This is how we come to make a family from strangers
This is how we light candles
There are people who will remember you
when you meet them
These are the people that you
can always call at night
They are the humans turned angels by your asking
With each separation they go to seed again
These are the men who carried you
on their shoulders
This is the one you are lonely for
the one who begins and ends your hunger
This is the man who said "Always"
There is a moment of returning
on the other side of every leaving
It is not something I can prove to you in language
This is what we pray about
We can kill what we desire
and it grows back
There is something that does not wear you out
It is the third part of any two people who join
It opens and closes
There are people alone who are not apart
This is why we listen to the madman when he speaks
People change but they do not stop
This is how we learn "Forever"
These are the people you can count on
they are the keepers of promises
They are candles lit from each other
They can teach us eternity
We can get what we give, this is the instruction There are people who do not say good-bye
As distance is measured
You are one of them.

Frames

For a long time
I only saw things in comparison
I only knew myself
In relation to other people
And not in relation to who I am
Or was
Or why
I only saw you
In a line-up of men
For me to consider
And choose
But once I loved my family
Without question.
Without a frame or social ruler
Without a measurement or accounting
We lose a lot in judgements
Mostly people
But especially ourselves
Love is out of context
It has to be
It's when we stop comparing
That we love

TWO WEEKS TOMORROW

It will be two weeks tomorrow
I made it through
two Saturday nights
so far..almost

It hurts like hell
But I'm going to get away
this time

I go out every night now
I have to for awhile
I can still smell him
on the pillowcase-even
now the heat rises from
his side of the
covers-He hasn't really
left yet and the
scraps make me cry...The bed feels like a vacant crib

I'll make it this time
I've been careful to stay away
from radios-One
song leads to
another..The words can ambush you
and pretty soon
if you don't watch out
You're back on music again-especially
the old songs-one small arrow
and you're on the ground
You have to stay awake
when you're running

I'm easy to reach these days
I don't put up much of a fight
One hug and you can have me
It doesn't even hurt(too much) and
I won't even tell you why
Because I can't..And
I won't ever leave you
I won't go home again
At least not tonight-because
in the morning it will be two weeks
since I said I never wanted to see him again
and this time he
believed me

EPITAPH

When I die
Give what's left of me away
To children
And old men that wait to die
And if you need to cry
Cry for your brother
Walking the street beside you
And when you need me
Put your arms
Around anyone
And give them
What you need to give to me
I want to leave you something
Something better
Than words
Or sounds
Look for me
In the people I've known
Or loved
And if you cannot give me away
At least let me live on your eyes
And not on your mind
You can love me most
By letting
Hands touch hands
By letting
Bodies touch bodies
And by letting go
Of children
That need to be free
Love doesn't die
People do
So, when all that's left of me
Is love
Give me away