Explaining to a star the limits of human love
(for Michael Petchkovsky)
You passed so quickly, it pulled the oxygen out of the air
Drawing sorrow in behind you, like a myst
Burning our lungs and causing our eyes to water
We knew you were only taking the pain out
And meant to return
But the pain came back in without you
Astonishing how much of it there was
more than a man could carry
And older than the life of a man
Amongst those who loved you
Your loneliness was legendary
It warmed your company
And welcomed you everywhere
But when you bequeathed it to us
And it became ours,
We divided it like stolen treasure
In phone calls and drunken stories,
Binding us in its conspiracy
Humans cannot bear the tenderness of stars
And so we dissipate its light
Refracting its ferocity into laughing
crying, and complaint
Until its energy sustains our life
Connects us, and allows our love to
Pass from human body to human body
Only then returns its signal into light

