“I Ask”, “The Promise of Flight”, and “The Benefit of Common Words”
By Michael T. Young
I Ask
How long is it to the next season,
the next doorstep, our arrival
at the threshold of another embrace,
the curtain of intimacies in which
we ask: how long can we hold on
to the treasure we bear, the love
we secret in each other, how long
can we hold each other? What is
the name it takes when the day ends,
when winter claws the windows,
moonlight halos the glass through
beads of rain, and how far will we go
to recover that name from a past
whose script grows ever more illegible?
The Promise of Flight
The creek pledged its length
of turns and lingerings to the ferns
perched at its edge, combing
green fingers through the water.
The ferns plucked glittering strands
like strings on a violin, clearing
debris from the song picked
by slick rocks in the creek bed.
Between bank and minnows’
flicker, that music laced the air
with a running grace that cleaned
a path up to the sparrows’ nests.
And every traveler that paused there
breathing for a moment whatever
the waves promised, left free of a weight
their language had no name for.
The Benefit of Common Words
Like the primary colors, we can paint
a picture that we both recognize,
point to it, and say, “I’ll meet you there,”
or “that’s funny” as we both laugh.
Even the tertiary colors are shared,
and we add nuance and shading,
so what we say becomes like that:
a deeper friendship, a clearer hold.
But then we start adding varieties
that maybe my eyes aren’t as sharp
to pick up on. My dad was colorblind.
Maybe what you meant was in that range
beyond where my eyes start to betray me.
I want to see what you see but no amount
of squinting will bring it into focus, though
I don’t want to lose what we’ve made so far,
and so nod and agree and try to keep up
as you pace with enthusiasm toward
the next painting in the gallery, while
I hope you don’t notice my silence.
Michael T. Young’s third full-length collection, The Infinite Doctrine of Water, was longlisted for the Julie Suk Award. He received a Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and the Jean Pedrick Chapbook Award. His poetry has been featured on The Writer’s Almanac.
