I live high
above the clouds
that hang over
Honolulu
I spy your
flank peeking
from beneath
the dark gray
bed sheets
an alabaster
doll wrapped in
cloudy fabric
you move
the clouds
move with you
a storm in bed
at last naked
as the torrent
of sheets
binds ankles
and brings
hunger

Standing
before him
what I see he
sees
it’s his eyes
a slate gray
that pierces
points and
swallows what I’m
seeing with
my eyes

Standing
before him
what I see he
is a young foolish
playful man
broad shoulders
that slip to his
narrow
waist
then flow
into the rivers
of his thighs

I write today
like a child
caught in a
lie
like a prospector
spying a lump
of gold
I have witnessed
my own miracle
I can walk
two months ago
I faced life
in a leg brace
today
I walk around
the house upright
and confident
for those faced
with a bleak prospect
allow no one
to determine your fate
instead focus
on your
future

Sitting outside
looking inside
like the family
dog that always
wants where he isn’t
I watched as bee died
an army of ants
carried bee across
the deck
burly Minnesotans
dragging elk in knee-deep snow
ants carried bee
down the plank squeezed
between boards and
disappeared second by second
subterranean
where it became
something
else

I walk
like a toddler
but I walk
months ago
they replaced
my knee
a broken spring
and today
I walk
like a toddler