A fortune teller once prophesied that
my greatest love would arrive
in my later years, but
so far love has stayed away from me
sometimes as far as boxed ashes
more often (just) other arms
Sometimes it stays so far away that
I will believe anyone who gently
holds my palm in theirs
Birding
A semi-legitimate concern upon
taking up the hobby of birding
is that I have waited too long
and as a result lack ample time
to learn who is who among birds
(there are many categories and
this alone is plenty to remember).
But, what does time have to do
with how we measure what it
might be worth to love something?
Silencer
How to
make yourself
clean again:
Cut the tongue
out of
the mouths
you have hurt.
It does not
rinse dirt
from its root
but it is a
solution.
The Long Way
Some days I take the long way home
for time to think
and to not think
I tire of going, of never looking up
then combat my go
with meander and wait
Despite my inefficient path and
its ill-timed traffic lights
I have never not made it home
Picking Oranges
How to be honest and dishonest:
He asks where I have been
I respond, “picking oranges”
I know it is not what he meant, and
he knows I have not been picking oranges
in my backyard for three weeks
I stand at the fruit bowl
convinced it is not quite a lie
(Begun in 2019 as an essay; finished July 22, 2020)
Colette Kay 