cursive

just one of those evenings
a warm balmy september kind of indigo
in a quiet house
that was just too chaotic
moments ago
with a random spotify playlist
about love
the kind that stays
that heals
your dog's full belly
warming your feet
and the purple of your heart
neither too happy
nor too sad

it's been quite some time
since you wrote poetry
in all lowercase
it's been escaping you
as most things have
making you wonder
if they'll return

return to inhabit
the cracks and crevices
which they occupied
when love was untainted
and unencumbered

love you see
is an act of courage
it looks deep within
and calls on hope
it sees the wreckage
without disavowing it
making it its own
going on all the same
like an orange post card
that smells a little bit
like a clementine
just hours past its prime

the bells

cities and towns we built
daisies we planted
and roads we named
in our semi-drunkenness
statues we erected
in our arrogance
and a false sense
of invincibility

are now under attack
by wrath
and fire

other parts of this
snow globe
seem naive
and happy
they seem so far away
from the havoc
we seem determined on

what will it take
to stop for
just a moment
and consider whether
it's these fires
we want to walk through
while both of us seem
to have been burnt
quite enough