Pretending
Four walls, and warmth, and me
And you.
And a tin roof to cover us, and a window
So that we can see the stars.
Close enough to touch, to capture
With one victorious upthrust fist.
And a smeared glass on the scarred desk
With a chip in the rim, brimming over with daisies
And the warm scent of honeysuckle, the memory of summer
And me, and you.
Let's pretend.
Stolen moments of time, thick as custard
Pretending, pretending.
Curled together like puppies, contented and drowsy
Dreaming of sweet grass and fragrant skies.
And quiet piano music drifting down the hall
Like the ghosts of yesterday.
Or the sound of raindrops tinkling ona tin roof
Or the white bone of the broken path, leading nowhere
Glinting under the swollen belly of the moon
Splash in the puddles, kick up the leaves
Break the mirrors, scatter the glass on the wind, glory in it
Cut out glaring headlines, paste them above the headboard
Or read the papers, in comfortable silence
Pretend, pretend everything's alright.
Waiting for the promised sign, the printed words
That tell us we can begin to live again.
Hesitant and blinking up at the sun, uplifted faces
Like children released from the grasping nightmares
Here we are safe; we have the security to dare, to dream
We can pretend.
And it's not enough, it's not nearly enough
But it's all we have.
Carved niche in the expressionless face of time
Tear soak into the pillow, guilty torrent, and salty as hell
Hold my hand, let's pretend, hide-and-go-seek
Of the soul, of the cracked tongue
Of the blistered lips mumbling Truth.
Imagine.
And dream,
and dream,
and dream.