BEFORE DARK
“Home before dark,” our mother’s voice
trails after my brother and me like a kite tail
as we scamper to stickball.
Sundown
happens too soon so we run to the blue
house as if our lives depend on time.
After supper, in the hallway, I hear
“She’s got to stop following me around”
and imagine his pals poking fun at
a skinny kid sister tagging along.
Today, I can’t help it; I’m happy.
God knows why.
I’m holding on to heaven.
If I let go, what’s there?
Nothing
but memory and pain.
I confess I’ve been unfaithful
to my dreams and my stories,
leaving them alone and unwritten
in the distant shimmering house,
the house they burst forward from,
rushing and true. I
have to keep writing.
That’s how it is, before dark…
© Barbara Alfaro
No comments:
Post a Comment