The Things No One Told You About Angels
They can come
when the sky is the color of an oil spill
and you are sure you are doing everything wrong.
Green canyons grow dark
and bright. The white clouds
do not stop moving.
Over the field of Queen Anne's lace
a sharp moon
you always forget.
At dusk someone gives you a bicycle
and tells you the war never ends.
There is no other point. You sing loudly
all the way home.
Over the road, plain stars.
The breeze brings a ghost of long hair
across your bare neck.
You remember the night she died.
Rilke's shadows pass over your hands.
You cannot keep them clean.
When you forget why we bother
doing this at all, you must find the words
for the beloved. Angels might be hearsay.
We keep each other alive.