Atlas

Where in the world might I go now 

that I can go anywhere ? 

Drop a coin on the atlas and tell me 

where it lands: there I could go.

I can go anywhere now. 

But my own nature is here  

where the sky shivers in fog 

and the sun glows silver 

and the effect is mystic.

I could go anywhere now 

but I will stay by the bay, by this ocean, 

by these mountains--by all this

unfair share of beauty.

I could go anywhere but 

here lights blink from cities,

leap from the ocean foam, 

from the kindred faces. 

I could go anywhere but some nights 

I can't sleep missing him, 

missing all the lost days that drip 

from memory, so many they could 

form a deep lake.

So I will stay here with these drops.

Even though the days are flying fast as birds 

escaping from their cage, even though 

slowing them is beyond prayer,  

I stay anchored in their mist. 

I could go anywhere but here I wouldn't 

move a cloud 

or change a scent--the marsh salt's alright with me-- 

as is every color, every pattern, every rumble 

on the street, 

every scene a little treat.