Before You Think

before you think about facebook
how you flit from one screen to the next
timing your life in little electronic envelopes

before you rise and wake from dark dreams
to startle at the approximation of exotic music

before you fall into a half-sleep on the Q58
on your way home from the doctor’s office
with someone else’s city
streaming passively behind the glass

remember this moment of grace
in the kitchen making a cup of tea
recalling the deep pockets of love
you are allowed to slide into

these are the unbidden thoughts that buoy you
and that will keep you intact

A Present

My cat left the present of
My trashed jewelry box
After I spent a year
Ceding my heart to other men.

Earrings all shapes and sizes
Like a scad of fishhooks, less beautiful
Nestled in the dusty carpet
Than hanging from my ears.

The lid lay to the side
And would not fit easily
Without the aid of glue
And weights on the edges.

But:
If you leave your cat to his own devices
You can’t blame him for knocking
Everything to the ground.
May as well blame the wind.

He just sees a series of tests:
What is light enough to topple,
What is big enough to scare,
And what is solid enough never to budge.