A wasp hangs over the bougainvillea
like an unrelenting consciousness
with nothing to hold on to
O why could I never say the things to you
that should never have been said?
The coastal sagebrush growing in the sand trough
throws a million tiny buds against the sky
how many inchworms disguised as branches?
O why was it your dark happiness I chased
and never your fair sadness?
Fuzz forms on the strand like a gift to the wind
while a man runs his cars along the dunes by hand
dirt blazing as the wheels move
O why is there no memory of you
only a me I still can't understand?
The birds are all moving toward the sunset
where the orange ball takes the sky along with it
and the pond current stills to receive its color
O why is moving on so slow I must pause
to give tribute to the moment for your rage?
Birds walk in peach water
the rust buds glow with a knowledge not my own
but bequeathed in fragile gold
O why was your gift so cruel
that I never will forget it?
A sidewinder calls the Gods to his magic winding tail
and slips too slow and perfect to the brush
just as the moon takes control of the night
O why was I so stupid, when I let you erase me,
you weren't erased too?