this mountain

I’m sitting here now and

the daylight is all but gone.
Just a faint glow of blue

outside of the window.
There’s a tree growing somewhere---

I don’t know why I just had

that thought
But
There is a tree growing somewhere
& the beats of the wings of birds

perhaps an insect

flying in the wind

& these things are happening

in the world

& somewhere a wave roils

& rolls & builds

& hits the sand

with that selfsame crash

echoingall down

the coastline.
I poke open the curtains

you have been away

from my arms

far too long---love

& my dog is watching the street

where nothing moves

save the wind.
In this post-sundown world

I am ever much a part of you

as you are of me

& the two become so fused

they hardly become

recognizable.
Is this what they see?
When they see us or they see me or they see you

they just see us.
Like one is not imagined

without the other.
Somewhere a child laughs
Somewhere else another is conceived.
Somewhere a man sitsin a room

with oak paneling
Bowing a cello.
This

is

the

world

& there you are

I want to parade you

aroundlike the newest kill

& watch as the boys

grow ill with envy

thumb in their pockets

sharpen their knives

wait for me to trip up.
Around here,

the quail have all birthed their young

& you can watch them run,
Birds and their trees,

don’t know if I’ve said this much

but most birds

are monogamous choosing one partner

for their short

feathered lives.
& I love you the best.
I rob the trains.
I chase down the Wells Fargo Stagecoach.
We burn the churches

in the village square for you.
We watch as the enemy

stuffs the powder

& ball into the cannon

& sends their spark

into the night.
All becauseI haveyou.
Many years from now

or many days

may we rest on some long

hot afternoon

in the shade
You’re smiling’cos I said

god made the way of the world

this

and no other.