ROAD SONG
On an unnamed shore
my wintry life
hides inside
a turquoise sunset.
Where someone shakes
a tablecloth of breadcrumbs,
I wait worn
in a motionless wind,
dreaming of quick flight.
Dropping my shoulder
into the glint of a new moon,
I hesitate
shaping darkness
into stanzas sung by mermaids
in seaside shanties.
When the moon is missing,
my voice becomes
an untuned piano
that calms the spirits
of wanderers, evaporating
under a cloud of suspicion.
My uneven appetite
stands in the doorway
of another man’s pocket.
And along the horizon,
I am followed by a sea of children
across an alphabet of footsteps,
only to find
the keys to the kingdom
no longer fit.