i always lose my balance when i close my eyes.
this leads to dreams, dreams about you.  you have
left me in every possible way
but this.

the autumn wind whispers
with your voice.  some things
are inescapable
like rivers drowning in shadows.

i remember the oddest things
as if they had really happened--
your mother's azaleas in furious bloom,
the first night i sheltered in your arms.

all dreams;
all topsy turvy when i close my eyes.

the moon drips sweetness like a ripe melon
but it is dark inside me at the midnight hour.
i drink a dream of immortality, rise up in the air
all the way to the moon.

dreams bring the morning twilight
upside down. a strand of fragrance
drifts through the bedroom
to remind me:

you are the part of me I must set free
so i can hold a dream in my arms

right-side-up as before