i think i must have left a piece of myself
in the grass two summers ago
in that field where the green stalks rippled
and the sky seemed to stretch on forever
where we had laid on our backs
and stared upward at the clouds
and i thought that they looked like ships
sailing across the endless blue
and my brother had said i was talking nonsense
did he not also wonder
if they got lost up there
in the realm where the barest sliver of atmosphere
mirrors our ocean?
i think particles of my soul must have evaporated
sitting on the porch that inky night
it was hot, crickets chirped, and the lanterns flickered
every so often on the streets
because when it began to drizzle
a few days later
it felt a bit like coming home.