you’d stand there
and drip marigold
i’d wonder how the currents brought you
here like a whorling plastic bag with its rows
of misspelled thank yous
we’d nod to each other
sit at a table for three
avoid pupils like too similar magnets
while you’d rhapsodize
i’d trace the loops of our lost ampersand
we’d forget the sundial shadow
playing stabscotch with our conversation
i’d unlock my journals full of interrobangs
that you’d admire like the collection
of mortise keys you never found
we’d laugh at my love affair
with sunset swaths
across a half-packed suitcase
then we’d sit and listen to the dénouement
in silence
