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| The stars in their places |
Orion strong as ever
hunter above the woods
high-jumping over the oaks
where he is supposed to be
the stars in their places
a comfort as I lean
out the open window
upstairs into the night
me with my thoughts
unable to sleep again
the heat from the house
rushing out around me
haunted by childhood
hunting for certainty
as if it exists
She escaped into our room
where we lay awake
blankets pulled tight
through the window we fled
me first as the oldest
then my brother then her
and left him to his rage
and his drunken slumber
and his eventual remorse
or what I took to be remorse
returning from the refuge
of a neighbor's house
to find him brushing his teeth
getting ready for work
with no eye contact
and nothing to say
And nothing more
ever to be said
in childhood's memory
nothing of the fright
nothing of the shame
nothing of the betrayal
by one who should've loved us most
nothing but the brightness of blood
and the darkness of night
and the reassurance of Orion
rising from the woods
the leap in adulthood
the same as in childhood
even as the distances increase
farther away everlasting.
