Do not lift that word
Like a lantern toward me
I have walked through its glow before
And found only frost on the floor
If you must speak
Let it be in the smaller language
The one made of breath
Of shifting weight
Of truths that don’t pretend to warm
I know the sound of promises
That evaporate at dawn
I’ve held the ashes
Of every almost
You ever offered
So keep that word
Sleeping in your mouth tonight
Let silence be the only honest thing
Between us
And if you feel anything at all
Let it stay unnamed
A quiet trembling thing
That doesn’t need
To lie
To live