Poem of the Week

SECURING THE FUTURE

From behind the winter hills slung low,

twilight is winking off,

pulling on the starry night,

preparing me passage

through these unredeemable years.

I slip into my black turtleneck

and listen to the sound of you

in the kitchen, twisting down the thermos.

While preparing for the evening ahead,

I think of the germination of you, me, and our togetherness,

how we buried our treasures with our King Tuts

in hope that we might live comfortably in age.

But our guaranteed security lay

unguarded by curses and sleek cats long dead,

unwatched beneath the all seeing eye.

Now you are here at the door,

handing me my flashlight, my gloves,

my tool bag, my cheek kisses.

I head off to secure the future

government could not promise.

And here where Annuit Cœptis,*

I pretend I am an archeologist,

I stoop before the forbidding seal; behind it waits

others’ false hopes of laterlife gold.

Ignoring the threats etched on this bank,

I raise the bar and pry.

* Annuit Cœptis – providence has favored our undertakings