My Name Sleeps at the River's Edge
Even these walls are not indifferent
When I come in.
You are not here yet.
The hasps of the sliding windows
Need to be lifted
So I can admit the bright midday,
The smell of brine.
How many hours!
How many hours since, was it,
I waited for you to speak my name?My name is a leaf
That sleeps with yours between stones
I placed at the river's edge last spring
Believing gods of that valley
Could bring me to your arms' circle
Your warm breath to my hair
Telling and telling
Me who I am.Sea light drifts to this
Room full of rugs, tables, blank photographs
And air conditioning, and the whole apartment
Begins to drown in the astounding colors of salt water.
You come in, a drowning man.
Your hands reach from the flood.
Your breath struggles in my hair to save us.
Save us! Call me by name!
And more. Take me to the river's edge
And waken me there.
You can't save us here. These deeps
Are only the sea light I let in from outside.
Nothing matters here.
Name things as you will,
This room is imaginary.
You risk nothing. Even if you drown
It will be as if it had never happened.Yet at the river's edge
My name sleeps, a leaf under altar stones.
Oh, in that valley, tell me who I am!
I crave the taste of my name there
Warm in your mouth,
Your breath moist in my ear.