A Poem for Jalen Fall 2010

A Poem for Jalen

I wonder if yesterday
When the walls tore to thunders and underneath skin
Ghouls ghosts and monsters lurked
If it was all a primer for the silk-sheeted handle
Of the palm of the world
Where you and I sit today

Was the terrible—forever breathless—tumble
And the crying, was it all, just a way to make us
Recognize that the handle of the palm of the world
Would not let us fall any further

Is dark the coming light
Is half full glass the only drink
Is the might of the world right
Is this luck, are we lucky

I wonder if all our yesterdays
Held us up like parachutes
Slightly high above the chaos long enough to land us
In the dead smack middle
Of the palm of the world
Where you and I sit today

May we dwell in this heart together
You and I in the palm of the world

September 2010