992

I had some wisdom
lodged in my bones
waited for a cart
to come through town and
throw me on the back to tour
the city
or feel the California
wind on my face

we had a home
and a garden in the back
not eaten by gophers or wild
rabbits

most days
I wanted to sleep
on cobblestone patios
watch the stars eat
light pollution from the city

then we got dirty
drank too much vodka
smoked too many cigars
gave up on the dream
of a good home in the hills of
some western state

I didn’t have any visible scars
just a penchant for streams and
wild catches that we could cook
on your mother’s old stove

I could cook her a meal
but we were both so fickle
and so ignorant of the way
things were supposed to fit

I could watch her pass out
from drink and smoke
then fix dinner at two in the
morning and wonder where
the time went
or time would go
if it weren’t spent under
sheets

what was the start of this
poem?