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.