today, September 6

the candle in the small bathroom
behind the wooden sliding door
remembers its brief heroic role
in the last power outage the vision
of the bottom rung still sounding
in the lengthy archive of this not
so gracious tumblr this slow
agonizing in the flickering shadow
of the next tragedy the next loss
outside the window the birds
mate and strategize the squirrels
contend for the same forage
in the darkening room the man
types similar lists and notes the
box of matches on the shelf
in the basement the sump pump
marks its task with a clump and
sudden song the hours recreate
this life like any other
where is the flame this morning?
where is the man's desire?
the world is a constant song
das lied von der erde he hears
and sees the small moments
all bearing grace he holds his
heart apparent wondering what
could be next he trusts the
woman in the wings for She
is fair to all Her children even
him