From The Start

I'm still haunted by that long drive across

the sad prairie

With the rain, smearing colors on the road

And the smell of the cattle cars

Steaming by me on the highway

Reminding me of the circus smells that day

How sharp my memories

How still my heart

The further I go, the more I fall apart

How bright these eyes in the bottom of my cup

How can I miss so many things,

I never had from the start

I dream I'm in a play that I've never read before

And in an hour it's being performed

And I have to wear this pink dress

And even when I'm sad I sing and dance

And I never know what line is coming next

The birds they clatter recklessly at windows

And the cars they just rattle on

But I hear lake water bumping up

against an old stone wall

And the voices of children playing on the docks