collide

galaxies in violent marriage, say,

or fission, or gravity sucking dust onto itself
time holds for us no bloodless moment.

darkening church doorsteps all alone,
say, or an empty house some evening,
waiting for a call, a touch.

we see the stars all at once
but cannot grasp the endless void
between them; the silent solitude eternal.

i set the pictures on the wall just so
for laughing friends to stand between
never thinking—this will pass.

behold the weight upon the leaf
see how it bends and slips its burden down
and shivering springs back to its brief career.

12/02/23