Deadlock darling  
if you lay down your arms
and lean into a promise made
I will wait for you
on the other side of
Badger Creek
but only for a while
only long enough to hear
a rustling of feathers
from the two crows
perched on my shoulders
one for the vows you spoke
and one for the silence that came after

And when you come closer
or if you never come at all
we will nonetheless turn our backs to
Badger Creek
and walk quietly away
swallowed by a damp november mist
rattling bones and molting leaves
Vows and Silence
gently cawing