The Promises of Children

Children on the swings was it autumn was it spring?
when we promised each other everything?
a porch facing west after years of correspondence
a testimony to divine plan?
Now the vans and the planes the buses and the trains
converge in my mind one common goodbye
i come bearing maps yeah room to room with my atlas
do you have any idea why i leave so fast?
it’s cause at night i dream of boats that i cannot
seem to steer
and acres of flowers under glass
it’s cause at night i dream of words that won’t
spill off in the bath
do the promises of children ever last?
I walk the midnight aisles ceremoniously tired
married to this empty cart this mile
neither moving east nor absolutely west
we excuse our little dreams as dual honesties
but still at night i dream of boats …