UNPREPARED

I.

I’m not prepared for this.

I can’t pronounce this bliss.

The way we flow,

The knowing where to go.

This ebb and flow—

Can’t we take it slow?

Where are the walls,

The shadows in the halls?

This light—

Can it be right?

Where does it come from?

I’ve known a different sun,

Walked a different earth

Where air was used for grieving.

I think—we’re leaving.

II.

Before we met

I knew your face

From stars and stones.

I knew your name

From wind and grasses.

Before we met

The red earth held my heart,

The sky cradled my dreams,

The forest floor was my green bed.

These were what I wed

Before we met.

Now that you are here

I am wed to galaxies.

Our sky does not contain me.

Our sun is a candle to what I see.

Sheer as a cliff, the walls drop away.