The Safety of Edges Poems & Interviews

HUSHED

In the library the young girl
her mother checking email
sang a little song she was
making in the moment it wasn’t
being sung for her mother
or herself it wasn’t being sung
for anyone around her it was only
being sung for the sake
of being sung her heart and mouth
moving in the movement of the song
and I knew who she was
beyond what I knew she was me
as a child singing to be singing
and I knew that her mother
in the library would stop her
would tell her to be quiet
how could she not but oh
for the singing that seeks
no applause and is ours
even in the silence

IMPROVISATION

only happens
                        when it happens

though years may have passed
       so what happens
might happen

the musician who gets it right
       gets it right
              right now

       don’t wait
when it happens
       happen

POCKET WATCH

Each day when I remember
I wind the old watch
hanging from its stand
where it watches my desk

you told me you liked it
Grandpa remembered
take it you should have it
Lloyd fixed it last year
it runs well enough for its age

and it does
                     it stands
at the edge of my mornings
running and still

                              if I listen
I can hear
                  what he told me
about life
                  time passes
faster than you think

remembering his voice
I take the old watch
wind it renew it set it
on its stand

                      and dare
to enjoy the time
that I have that I know
won’t last forever