stay

I’m dreaming of you hanging
in the orchard. Snow petals
falling in reverse.

Of course my mind would
conjure you here. Your moonlit
presence, a stain
disrupting the symmetry of the cherry trees.

I’m surprised to find a star
still lingering – that perpetual
vigil. Maybe it stays here for you
knowing that I cannot.

I’m dreaming
of you, yet it’s not you I see.
It’s this wooden boy, floating
limp beneath a mess of strings.
Shoes fit to dance but unable to touch
the earth. The craftsman got your sadness
just right.

Is this where you came to plead
Make me a real boy.

The star quivers; I am waking.
What will become of you here
when I am gone? Will this tree ever
let you go –

[ February 2015 ]