equinox

the days grow long and you know you should go outside

to walk in the rain, feel the moon, get a good sun spank,

and sweat in the shadow of shade trees

while children play in the grass

 

instead, days are long, dawn and noon and sunset

slip between the blinds, clock hands point to gloom

at the end of pen that you use to sign your name

on a piece of paper a boy will find one day

on the way home

 

it will flap in the street before the pile of a building

where workers with rough hands chip mortar from brick

the boy will try to make sense of the long sentences, the marks,

try to imagine the person the name represents

then, he will drop that paper back into the gutter and wander

off to make his marks

 

the long days will grow short and you’ll want to go outside

to hear bird songs, run your hands over the ribs of your lover,

kiss children playing in the leaves, rise from the shade into autumn sunset

to step into what’s been dug for you

and dance