I Can't

This island’s rock still holds the heat, just like the day we landed - loved,
some thirty years ago - a blink of time - yet something so much more.
We paddle-stroked our way to knowing, ate and fed our bodies, minds.
Wild fish and berries shared with mink, loon-listening, quiet, in the dark.
I have a hard time understanding how we got from there to here.
Our island once had been our fortress, you and I and no one else.
But now I learn that she has never left you, though I came to stay
and I can’t help but question all you’ve made me think about the way
you see our love, and when it lacks, your thoughts that maybe someone else
can make you feel the way you ought to, when you come to know I can’t.




I Can’t

This island’s rock still holds the heat
just like the day we landed, loved,

some thirty years ago, a blink
of time, yet something so much more.

We paddle-stroked our way to knowing,
ate and fed our bodies, minds.

Wild fish and berries shared with mink,
loon-listening, quiet, in the dark.

I have a hard time understanding
how we got from there to here.

Our island once had been our fortress,
you and I and no one else.

But now I learn that some have never
left you, though I came to stay

and I can’t help but question all
you’ve made me think about the way

you see our love, and when it lacks,
your thoughts that maybe someone else

can make you feel the way you ought to,
when you come to know I can’t.