Honor in a Misnomer

Like stars in September
And airports in October
She's halfway there and then she remembers
There is honor in a misnomer said well
And she chose the wrong words
She chose the wrong names

The night before, they held hands
Made no demands, made plans, took stands
Then they sat down curbside, knees at neck level
He said he cared; she said she always did
As if a distinction were necessary
The clouds were extraordinary
But they never looked up, all wrapped up in it as they were

She had no urge
To cross April into May again
With him in debt to dictionary writers
And baseball insiders, radar guns set on men's hearts racing
When she entered a room
Or exited a party in ruins
With hair a mess of spirits
Each hand full of flower stems from God knows where

He had no regrets
About the big ideas or the green T-shirts
Or the full disclosure that love love hurts
Or the time he disappeared for a day and a half
And explained it in a blog paragraph
Seen only by some HTML, a server, and a museum curator in Cambridge, Massachusetts

So there is an impasse; it's the next day
The sun is unseen and the quiet is bigger than her big brother
Who loomed loud and large until he died
And in death he became the mountains beyond the eastern city limits
She couldn't look at the mountains beyond the eastern city limits
Not yet, not ever, not yet

They entered the house together
He held her arm in his hand
She held a book about love love hurts
Upon entering, he lifted a curtain to make sure a window was closed
She pulled him toward the love seat
The cats jumped off and they got on

September 19, 2009