Wouldn’t it be nice

if you were Hansel and I were Gretel

and we could follow a trail

Only without all the brother sister stuff

If you could lead me to me

and I could lead you to you

and there would be a great rejoicing and the

light, it would come; streaming through a pillar of soft

sound, crowded and cramped into a room

like too many people looking for a sunrise on a beach

you and I would struggle to keep

cool, and there would be a kind of plea-bargaining

a negotiation

Heads would roll and hearts would soar, there

would somehow be a gathered perception

an inclination of what should happen next

If I were your wife

we would settle without question

and linger in the notion of yours and his and hers and mine

But there is not a witch pressing a finger against a cage

and you have enough to eat

and I have enough to ponder

without wondering what spells

you might cast

without wondering

what stops and starts

might derail

the surety of your heart against mine.

11.21.2010