the dogs have gone home

maybe I should leave too / the sun is low enough

Hi everyone,

I opened one of my old notebooks over the weekend looking for a particular recipe, and instead found a bunch of poems from my San Francisco days. Below is one of my favorites. I think I was sitting in Dolores Park in the Mission when I wrote it on Independence Day in 2007.

Rachel

— —

the dogs have gone home
maybe I should leave too
the sun is low enough
that it stopped warming
my shoulders
it needs some sleep
I slept a lot today
so I have a little brainpower
to carry me late
into the night
and dance with the glowing
shrinking moon –
I think she needs a good spin.
I think she needs her girlfriend
to lift her up
over the hill,
kiss her,
kneel in front of her,
take out a ring
and ask her to dance
through all of life with her,
through every spin and dip and jump
every missed step and daring swoop
eyes and hands interlocking
and leaving a warm glow
over the earth
on the gloomiest nights
so that everyone can feel the mark
of the loving smile
of the moon and her wife,
so radiant that the sun can sleep
late like me sometimes.

— —