So I fashioned
A life-raft for you and for her
So you wouldn’t have to keep swimming
To and from all the angst of which career to chase next
And how to keep yourselves above water
When everything has a price
I am so saddened by what I see
And yet stand not much further off
On my temporary island.
I see so much goodness in both of you
But it’s trapped in your wanderings
Abstract words for an abstract place
If only things were as simple
A guitar playing til midnight
Or holding a nephew in your arms
If only you could make a future
Out of the characters in your novel
And live on the paper Mache globe
Hanging from your living room mobile
I don’t want nighttime for you
I don’t want nighttime and confusion
I don’t want a world where the lean-to of family
–remains utterly disheveled
Could you make it over the waves
In the safety of a raft, filled only with the oxygen
That comes from my lungs and goes out over the sea.