"To Kate"

I remember the season of my love
That came too late
He gave me every good reason
And then some
To wait
I remember the music and all the colors brought to life
I remember your long blond hippie hair
And the way you carried your mother’s knife
“It’s gonna build me a fortress someday,” you said
Took another hit off the ‘PEACE’ pipe and nodded your head
I smiled too
Because before this life, I was good as gratefully dead.

We were prayers back then,
Hitching rides
Hopping trains
Skipping stones
Parting ways
Letting the music guide us home to the very last refrain
From the hills deep in Cali
To the wild forests of Maine.

And then the rain comes,
And the mud slides
And you help me ‘cross that river
To the other, other of sides
Where I ain’t nothin’ but a lover, no—
A giver of skies
Like my mother who resides within me,
Or maybe it was just your eyes
‘Started this fire in my innards
‘Til I can’t stand with my thighs,
“Oh, how I wish all humans could be so wise!” I thought
Could learn to taste the air
And just for once, compromise
Like the season of my lover too late
Who gave me every good last reason
To hope
And then some
To wait

- ‘For my daughter and his daughter, Kate.’