I thought to buy you a trinket
to express the warmth in my heart for you.
Some small token that might find a home
next to your bed.
There were toys, lawn-gnomes
and rocking chairs
swaying in the cold April wind.
This life falls short of you
in my fleeting paradise beneath the spotlight
I remain incomplete. There is more
to my dream than was planned
I did not mean to love you
without my kingdom in place
I have no control.
Not over this grey morning
or the way the sun shines
not over my heart
which knows only your name
I found nothing to offer you but myself
and this handful of rain
tears from the Kansas City sky
symbols of a love
eternal

written from the road in Missouri, summer 2006