starlight and capes

~for joyce~

once
a white-haired man told me
to imagine
that
at any time of day
starlight showers down
over my head
like invisible
love....

(because we know,
he said,
even though sunlight
outshines the stars --
nevertheless
they twinkle on
in disguise
and behind....)

•

some mornings
i swing despair on
like a cape,
i realize,
or a robe....

sometimes it is the tablecloth i sit down to --

sometimes
resolutely
i hang it back
in the closet
with the old clothes --

the ones
i really need
to give away....

i take out hope
shake the dust out of its folds
and try it on
awkwardly....

•

right now,
it seems,
neither one fits!

so i take them both off, and
they lie in small heaps on the floor --

i stare at them,
mystified....

how do you live without one
or the other?

yesterday
in the blazing heat
a (wise) young man said:

true peace happens
when you give up
both hope
and despair....

•

tonight
i walk out into the quiet
warm air --

the fireworks
have blown themselves out....

the revelers
have gone indoors....

and up on the hillside,
out from under the trees --
i hold my skirt with both hands
like a basin

for catching stars....


______________
©2011
beth anne boardman