gratitude
rivers through me: sharpened to starlight -Arthur Sze
all night I woke beside you
the most perfect possibility
then woke one minute before
I was to be rocketed into the world
let me stay here
in this early morning
rain coming down
as if for the last time
how perfect this calm
against the chaos
as I drag myself up
you still in your gentle sleep
our cat so happy
to keep me company
me getting to work
on this right here
wishing only to stretch
this moment out
our other cat with my mother
who is very much still alive
your parents as well &
mostly everyone we know
soon I will wake you
by laying on top of you
& for a moment
the world will be ours
but for now this
is all I need
this gratitude not like a river
more like waking to a rainstorm
or some bright point in all the darkness
this moment against the world that belongs to us
