Author: Elizabeth Maynard

I dreamed all of you last night
voices clear and warm
chiming welcome
verse upon verse
binding us together again

In the elevator yesterday
I met a dog, Rufus
and his person, nameless
We shared the usual pleasantries:
I scratched
He sniffed
I remembered how I loved you
in this place between
the life I once lived
and the one ahead

I knew the story
how your friend
heartbroken
left with a bullet
his beloved listening
She would never
could never forget
how much he claimed
to love her
And then you
to wound me
tried to do the same
but swung instead
leaving time for them
to cut you down
so you could live to say
how much you loved me

Your archaeology reminds
we are here for a breath
or a moment longer
At last nameless
whispering walls
roads graveled and worn
by wandering
baths, bridges, tunnels
and dreams sacrificed
on altar beyond altar

Today I filled myself
with cream and sugar
temporary consolation
more easily obtained
than assurance
and more fleeting
Tomorrow begs
for greater sustenance
a promise of
wholesome things

For days now
the cold has found its way
right through me
to the places it meets itself
in every abandoned
hope and unuttered word
Perhaps I am 
at heart equatorial
warmed through
by the memory of the
person I once thought
I might be

Pulling and pushing
I will my world into being
the child I once was
built a tiny fortress
to have a home
but now the secret:
end the engineering
learn to be a garden-keeper
surprised each morning
by the unexpected bloom

Dreams of you continue
each night an unfinished farewell
I should have known
as we stood on the steps
neither up nor down
It was easier to leave unfinished
a love never truly begun

There is goodness everywhere
I look for it
my expectation transforming
every unnamed thing
to blessing
to welcome

I shuddered all day
bracing against icy wind
to blow right to you