the train whistles lull me to a dusty sleep
an ancient sleep
primitive and timeless as the sage
it tastes like rain
and reads like a folk song
and when the engine songs are gone
the interstate strikes up it's serenade
flooding my heart valves with gasoline
and valvoline
and the smile of what i can only hope to imagine are young lovers
with a fiesty case of wanderlust
and a puppy in the back seat
with a wagging tail
"happy trails" i whisper
and the stars flicker
and i smile
the walls let their secrets slide while they sleep
all those restless memories they keep for themselves
floating around
and settling in the parlor dust
they trust me just enough
to let me cradle them in my chest
woven between my rebar ribs
and my flat-tire heart
thud thud thudding as it speeds off into the distance
the dogs rustle the sheets as they rise
just long enough to sigh
dance a sleepy circle and a half
and put themselves back to bed
i finally crawl out from inside my noisy head
as the boy nestles up to my neck
and traces my clavical with his humid breath
and ropes me in closer to his chest
with his big bear arms
his heart sings like a fire alarm
stirring the brave to save me from the shadows
and chase the ghosts from my gallows
and he even lets out puppy snores in his sleep
the tune that finally pirouettes me towards my dreams
where the birds sing like drunken sailors in the mango groves
and the rows and rows of lime trees
my heart and mind innertwined to paint me a scene i've never even seen
not with my own eyes
it's so nice to think it's within me
and not without me
yes
for every sound, a source
for dave, and they days when we could stand to inhabit the same space.
