“Just before our love got lost, you said,
‘I am as constant as a northern star…,’ Oh,
I could drink a case of you, darling, & I
would still be on my feet.” -“A Case of You” by Joni Mitchell

i think about the irises
of our eyes
& how we condemn ourselves
by looking deep into them:

an earthy green that makes you feel
endless, the blue of the sky
on a clear day, or (God,
why do you make me remember
this one?) a color that you just
cannot remember—-& every day,
it seems that more & more details fade
& fade…

as i think about our reminiscence fading,
i can’t help but shake
the thought of losing, shrinking—-getting smaller,
yet every day the lonely hole
inside of my soul grows
& grows—-hosting the most beautiful
creatures of longing, & instead,
i learn to believe that i, therefore,
contain multitudes

& despite my self-expansiveness,
i drive through the mountains,
passing the trees & lakes & streams

& everything seems so
small—-myself, the smallest of all

& it’s marvelous,
out there