Ex/it

After the hurt

bruised and disappointed

hope shows up.

 

You’d signed up for the long haul 

but this was not home after all

its earth thickened by blood, but

 

that blood’s everywhere

your family scattered

like thistledown

 

and you

clinging to a piece of rock

like that was ever going to work

 

committed

to an idea that held fast for a while

then dissolved

 

in the length of a breath needed to announce change

you’re taken back

fresh off the boat

 

different

but hey, you look like us

so bleed your life into our deep bucket of love

 

until the word

leave -

sets you adrift

 

some of us no longer belong 

we bump up against each other

on buses and in bars

 

recognise a certain light in the eyes

that blinks like a flickering tube

in an orange kitchen of dreams

 

a yearning

to be

connected

 

open the window

move with the cool air

 

into another time.