Fossils

 

I sit with her, hold her papery palm in mine,

my arm around bony shoulders. She endures

by pretending all is well, she is here, after all.

 

Her mind like limestone

one day solid and settled

another eroding in rain and silt.

 

Clouds change shape, crows bicker on

low hanging wires. “Look,” I say.

Our conversation insubstantial as dust.

 

Sometimes I long so much

for what isn’t

I forget what never was.

 

She, there all along, can marvel

at the asteroid

as it arcs towards earth.