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It's coming toward August
and I'm not sure
who is left

so it would be great
if we could work this out

Also, can I keep
your wallpaper up?

I know your former tenant
didn't like it but I
find it really pretty

Aftermath

The rain falls
empathetically
upon the burnt house

I'm so sorry
to hear of
your loss,
it says

Feel free to
drop by for tea
anytime really I'm

here for you

Giving

The sky opens
with no sound
except for what
falls from her

Returning to my music my self you

I remember from another year
how my old joy might seem
foreign to me

Might clash on my ears
the tone bright and
far too loud

It might have been too long
too much time too full
of a gap to step over

so I fix my hair
in the mirror in the hallway
with those first date heartbeats

hoping that you’ll still find me
attractive hoping that

I still like you hoping

that you won’t hug me closely,
not yet

Tisha b'Av III

The Temple
is done burning
so I
can play guitar again

I forgot
that the strings
were broken

Tisha b'Av II

I'm confused
by that I can
bless you

Isn't it you
who has to open my
lips that my mouth
declare your praise?

And isn't today
when instead
of me deciding
not to ask
you decide
not to answer?

maybe the answer
is that you opened
my lips yesterday

maybe that was how you
prepared for the fast

Tisha b'Av

Right before the fast
I sat in Arabic class
peeling what I thought
were hardboiled eggs

Both smushed under my fingers
and I realized that neither
was cooked nearly enough

and I thought to myself,
Man, I can't even
mourn properly

Maybe that
is our new mourning

the construct state

my Arabic textbook tells me
"NOTHING MAY INTERVENE
BETWEEN TWO MEMBERS
OF A CONSTRUCT

(With the sole exception
of the demonstrative adjective
(to be introduced in #17))"

(for example:
"I wish I could forget
the existence of
this
line between us")

Commonalities

Passing a man and a child
on the path between buildings
I say "Hello" and then
"It's more comfortable out today"

Commenting on the weather
is something to do
when you can't think of anything else

And it's kind of obvious
that that's what you're doing
because everyone does it

Maybe we should comment
on other things we all share
like "Egypt, crazy, right?"

and "Don't you sometimes wish
that you didn't still get angry
at your exes?"

Inside out

I've been watching the color
on my leg shift from blue
and maroon back to skintone

Non-bruise reappeared
at the center first,
worked its way outward

and today all I see
is half of an outline
of a dark pink circle

How do I identify
the center spot
from which my own healing
will come?

What's always been

I put away my phone today
and occupied myself with song

Swallowing song hurts my throat
so I sang to a brick wall

Distance held and closed
as I walked toward it singing

and I thought

so too I'll sing to you til I reach you

and when I reach you
my song will be
what's always been