Between Simple Lines

Between Simple Lines

(“Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him.” James 1:12)

Between simple lines drawn upon
new pages in a denim-covered three ring binder
lie the words left behind by soft graphite,
the misspelled connection between mind
and paper.

Grammar may not matter, punctuation only
dots in the appropriate places,
but I have labored to remember faces that
made my breath sweeter for a moment,
my space occupied by more stories than permitted.

The sadness exposes every hand I tried to hold
but withdrew for fear my company or my geography
would finally wear thin. Many I hoped to begin
but never initiated the conversation; I only invested
in sure things.

Do not turn away in the fog; the breeze will reveal
the sharp shadows by afternoon. Do not forget the
names we played; the hills will inscribe
the poetry we drank like wine. Do not forsake
the cord we twined; the hardships have tried
to unravel our young design.

Could I open a cedar box and smell every day
that lined the sidewalk with crepe myrtle
I might dance when the money runs out,
I might laugh at the nervous cancellations,
and
I would certainly wait on the corner where the
tennis courts began to crack, to see
if the same friend I looked for a half hour before
school
still walked the same way home today.