Dear young man,
Have you no home?

Troubles and anxiety
Sleep with you at night;
Windows clog and shake
From cold and highway;
There’s a coat that keeps you
In the hand of a hard god.

But,
I imagine you,
As a dawn redwood,
As a giant thuja,
As a thornless climbing rose,
As a field of flame grass,
Purring.

This heart of mine cannot bear
The bareness of your cavity.
Through you the winds streak,
Howling bright.

You come to my door
Barefoot and stumbling.
I take you out back,
I take you to the garden,
I take you,
Lay you in the earth;
With dirt I
Cover you.

Dear young man,
When I see you again,
You will not be as you once were.