With a quiet voice
I said my name is Joshua

they paused
for a moment
as if they'd never
heard the name
before now
(they had,
of course)

as if deciding
if this little boy
would be worth
their borrowed time

their eyebrows creased
and I saw the grin
before it arrived
nervous but
silent and peaceful

and they must have
known right then
that I would never
ever leave their side

because the grin erupted and
that's a very nice name, I'm Lindsey
and right then I was ready to offer
the entire world to them.

It was the thunder
that told us
her bedtime story
that night

tales of new life
of rains, spring
and morning flowers
far, far away

a storm story
to sing us to sleep.

Today I died on the freeway
by the overpass on the 427

a hot and relentless August rain
made it too dark to be five thirty

I walked home slowly from work
as you do when you're tired

oh yes, I was sad too
but we all are

it's easy to be sad
when it rains in August

when I reached the overpass
in the middle I leaned over

my hair passed my eyes
and droplets fell

down, down

I thought about it
twenty feet into traffic

the guardrail is never as useful
as a sweet and good-hearted hug

so then I thought better of it
and put my headphones in

I died on the freeway
then got up and kept walking.

Oh
how it hurts
to trust
so completely.