Months drop off the calendar.
Nothing changes
But the weather.
Dirty mugs still litter the sink.
The neighbor’s dog still barks
At every passerby,
And so we live
In silence.
Didn’t there used to be snow
This time of year?
I seem to recall a blanket,
A window blank as paper,
Air crisp as ice.
But now it is late
Winter and nothing
But rain streaks the glass.
When building boats, we try
To hold out against the waves.
Some boats are beautiful. Some
Do the job. When you need to cross
Whatever seas need crossing, you
Sometimes need to build a boat.
Though you do not know how
To build or boat. Though you have
No tools or oars. Just
A bedsheet patterned like clouds:
A single sail,
A breath of wind.
All the cool kids
Have children now
And jobs in the city.
Late nights just stories
Told at brunch.
BIO
Kate Porter is a full-time bartender and part-time poet. Her work has appeared in The Writing Disorder and Ziggurat.
