To Skate On Sun

After Rachel McKibbens’ “Untitled”

[To my daughters, I need to say:]

We are the will of

the subtle winds 

with melons for hearts,

all steady singing the song of

harvest.

When the one

the mouth that will liberate you

the one with the blitzed eyes

and the haughty tongue

the wanted,

the cure. 

If he finds you, disrupt

every pause. Be the stone to

its pond, let him revel in your 

patience, 

let him spot the line before

you look to ford it. 

Believe it.

Believe it in the new

hour with every

smile, a chariot —

[there is no shame in wanting.]

There is no tragedy without

a life it benefits.

Be it the last time

you ever feel worthy of

a love with so many scales

Be it

the only time you give

yourself so flippantly

to a bridge so unsteady

Do it with the notion of

infiniteness, of keep, of

withstand, of stand.

Be forgiving of his nature;

be stronger than the pit of

it

Balance best your stricken pulse

while it makes it way back to you.

Together, you are the

cinema’s best shadows, the ones

that float the walls like

cigarette flames

with not enough foresight

to fade.