Dearest Deborah by Michael Brownstein

DEAREST DEBORAH

  

Sometimes behind a curtain,

An antique closet with a hundred pieces of gold

Or a young man carving Jatoba wood into frames

Or monarch butterflies, milkweed, and healthy hair.   

Behind the door, a simplicity of sound

And in this room, the sweet sweat of huckleberry juice.

I cannot choose enough of any of these.

I can choose you, like a forest of rain.

 

Never is it enough to seek a clean place

Freshly imprinted with the small of your foot,

Decorated with the easy touch of your fingerprints,

And all of the breath in my world

Has this need to be knotted with

All of the breath in yours.

 

Will crab grass grow stronger after the storm?

This part is not in me. I can

Build a porch, change a fitting,

Lay out a pallet of down. This is in me.

I can quilt a blanket,

Tune the strings of my kora,

Find a place to be with you forever

And later, when you come upon me late,

It will not matter what came before.

I am in luck because of you.