Sunrise clouds bring so much gold
Is it possible to know
How much we give,
If we give at all?
The blue buildings glow in the low light
As if they wait for us to fill them
With coffee and ourselves.
Such a gift when it is pulled away
To the freedom of the night,
So we can confuse the disappearing with
Something being given in return.
I never told you, Kate, how I learned about words
When you stepped out of the sun's way
On that rickety deck. I have to admit you gave me that,
For to say you did nothing at all
Would mean that no one did,
That we all were prodigal, spoiled,
Mere receivers of a one-way flow
Who thought that the discernment
We protected ourselves with
Was a fair exchange,
And our thanks to God a formula for escape.
It’s hard to endure, as we’re required, our own
minds,
The little that we’ve done against a whole
That asks only to be seen.
