the last time the sky was blue

                           you only saw smoke

             pouring out of her mouth

             choking both your lungs

                                           but

             you were drunk with it

 

the last time the sky opened

                          she turned to you and denied

             every time she called you heaven

             by now you should know better--

but her garden was the closest place

             to home

                          you’ve ever known

 

the last time you saw her

                                        an ocean stretched between

             you and her and you and her

             fingers filtering sand and

             water flooding and washing

her farther out to land

 

maybe in time you will

              dry out

                          enough

                                       to hold her again