It Comes to Her

She is riding on a blue bike
through a summer evening
riding out of town
to the only pool
open late enough
for her to swim beneath the stars

the poet’s voice speaks
of a red bird in a dark cloak
falling falling
falling across your life
as it always does
when you’re not looking

but her son has not heard
of the red bird or the dark cloak
instead he roars of finding
the perfect shoes online
New Balance, olive green
just his size

she looks up and smiles
forty years on
pauses the dreaming
that has caused her so much pain

perhaps they are both lucky
to have finally found what they lost
new balance
a blue bike against a summer sky
a red bird falling
as stars always fall in August

dropping a cloak of invisibility
for her to disappear
without ever leaving home.

BlueBike3