The One Before the One (2)

The one before the one

Gave this moony girl the sun

Generously shared his fun

Guaranteed love wasn’t won

 

The one before the one

Was the words in her best songs

Walked beside her all along

When she was weak and she was strong

 

The one before the one

Listened day in and day out

Saw her within and without

Knew what she was all about

 

The one before the one

Told her that her heart was rare

Treated it with undue care

And so she’ll try not to compare:

 

The one before the one

With the one that came thereafter

With his nervous bursts of laughter

With a different ever after

 

The one before the one

Had a different path to take

Had held more futures at stake

And sometimes, that’s just the shake

 

When he was up and she was down

When he was verb and she was noun

When he had swum and she had drowned

When he was anchor and she, crown

 

When the moon had waxed before it waned

Something was lost, and something gained

The phase she’d never have begun

Without —

 

 

 

 

The One Before the One (1)

This Time

This time, someone else’s night

Won’t keep me from my moon

This time, the sun will sing me songs

Each day she’ll give me June

 

This time, when I’m falling

I’m only rising up

This time, when I’m pouring

I’ll drink from both our cups

 

This time, I won’t be paying

No matter what the cost

This time, when I find it

I’m never getting lost

 

This time, I’ve got a place to land

Before I take the leap

This time, when I roll the die

It’ll be for keeps

 

Faith

 

Of all the ends

And all the starts

And every in-between

I asked the moon

To give me faith

And here is what I gleaned:

 

She lured the waves

To sandy shores

And set the wind at ease

She asked me, she said,

‘Go to water

Wade out past your knees.’

 

Beyond the breaks

Close to my heart

The peaks and troughs grew wider

I balanced on my tippy toes

As though on a wire

 

Standing up

Against the waves

I swallowed my own wraith

Surrendering

To something else

Now that was having faith