Sometime after midnight
I woke to the songs of wild geese
Flying over in the dark
All the foggy air in between us had dimension

All the afternoons I worked too much
So I didn’t drink tea and read history
Flew away with the geese

All the women I used to love
Shape of breast hanging
Smell of hair
Softness of their feminine rooms
Flew away with the geese

All my ambition,
       But to write this to you
Flew away with the geese
Picked up and carried away
In their wild songs and talk

This short life redeems itself
Only by being
Of the same substance as geese
This chant redeems itself
Only if it flies away
And sings to you
Passing over
Your house
In the dark