Your Love is a Truck Farm

When you’re starving

And you find a little patch

Of strawberries, or

Maybe some raspberries

Growing in the forest

They taste amazing

So tangy, so sweet

And you’re grateful

They keep you alive

But they don’t last long

And soon you’re longing

For something, anything

Even the tiniest bite

And you nearly give up

But then there’s an acorn

And it’s bitter, but

Still you’re grateful

And you tell yourself

That it isn’t bitter

And you tell yourself

That you’re full

You really are

You don’t need

More than this

This is enough

This should be

Good enough

Then one day

You stumble upon

A truck farm

There are beans

And squash

And sweet corn

There is so much

That you almost

Make yourself sick

And days and weeks later

You realize you haven’t

Worried

About getting enough

For a very long time

You find a ripe strawberry

The most beautiful one

The sweetest one

And you just enjoy it

It doesn’t keep you alive

All by itself

You weren’t desperate

When you found it

But it reminds you

Of all those scary days

When you were starving

And there wasn’t

Nearly enough

So you savor it

Then it’s gone

But that’s okay

Because there’s

Another one

Right here

Joel at 58

Fifty-eight birthdays

But, actually: one

This is the only one

That exists

The others have passed

Or have not yet come

And so, this is the only one

That matters

The first one

We celebrate together

Sometimes it seems

So strange

How we found each other

And we are still

Getting to know us

But it is my privilege

To see what is really

Back there

Past the big muscles

And the bigger laugh

The beautiful voice

The handsome face

Behind what you

Show everyone else

It is real

And messy

And true

But also –

Beautiful

And there is weakness

And softness

Love

Pain

Sadness

And fear

But you are wrong

Wrong

If you think

That is it -

That

That is all

There is

Because I have seen

More

Beneath the softness

That hides

Behind your mask

Deep in the middle

In the quiet

In the dark

There is something else

You

The real you

Curled like

A bird

Inside an egg

Sitting like

A prisoner

In solitary

Quietly ticking like

A clock

Waiting

Waiting

And

I see you, in there

I see you

Night Whisper

 

I like to whisper to you

In the middle of the night

Across the mound

Of pillows

And say directly

To your

Subconscious mind

That I love you

I want to believe

It sinks in more deeply

And inoculates you against

Any crazy thing

I may say or do

During the day

That hurts your feelings

Or annoys you

I know it doesn’t

Work that way but

I do it all the same

I figure I could use

The credit

Poets, ironically

Are startlingly clumsy

With spoken words

Everything they think

Comes out in a rush

You could get hit

By a stray thought

Receive a concussion from

A passing feeling

Or be knocked off your feet

By a temporary mood

So I’ll whisper

To you tonight

While you sleep

Or hold your hand

Under the sheets

So tomorrow it will be
Easy to remember

That I love you