there is a pointwest side of
a two-lane road
an old red barn
a few yards beside
still stands
just as it did
twenty-two years ago
where it all went right
then our lives
were in shambles
we could not speak
without hearing
our own angry voice
sleep seemed to come
only by accident
at the wrong times
our manners seemed
labored
suspicious
both uncomfortable
with the feel of
each other's skin
and our own
neither of us recalls
exactly what happened
but we both smile
as we place blame
on that silly song
playing on the AM radio
people cringe
when we confide
what song it was
we were talking
you said something
out of nowhere
that struck the flint
an epiphany
my reply
was suddenly direct
razor focused
boulders between us
removed
we suddenly lost
the fear of failure
and fear of success
word after word
poured from us both
the past
suddenly made meaningless
by the changed look
of the future
i pulled the car over
right there
the red barn
as our witness
above us birds
winging new patterns
we talked
into the night
the sun rose
without a sense of time
or space
or our former selves
often hard
to remember days past
some remember by holiday
some remember by tragedy
but we both remember
beside the road unwinding
that small place
where finally
it all went right
