Sadness crept in like water down a drainpipe
And i slept soundly for months
Inside the dank culvert across the street from my house
Where only the occasional raccoon could disturb my slumber
The bats in the attic whispered secrets in my ears
And cicadas drew maps in the palms of my hands
A trail of water droplets leads to me now,
Like hansel and gretel
Come here, i won’t try to eat you
I am too tired to do anything at all
Except tell you everything i have learned
From living in six inches of water and mud
I will show you the maps on my palms
How they line up with the constellations in the night sky
How the stars keep disappearing one by one
We can walk hand-in-hand to the end of the cul-de-sac
You can watch me disappear under a blanket of clouds
And wonder if all this water
Will ever make us clean
Sometimes you will hear the school bus trundle overhead
On its way to the elementary school down the hill
I will simply smile, snuggle closer and tell you
“The world is singing us a lullaby. Now fall asleep
Before you remember where you are.”