Jointly, at night

A poem

A starry night, lying on the rooftop of your apartment building Assigning promises to constellations Like a memory palace

Your mother tries to balance her checkbook below A crooked bookie couldn't make it work Her shaking, nervous hand holds a wine glass carefully

Orion keeps his bow drawn, holding back the charging bull for one more day A small meteor skips its way across the atmosphere a blooming trail of light, winking

Your sister listens to wistful crooners while smoking unfiltered cigarettes down to the stubs, blotting them out in the bowl you made for her in kindergarten

Ursa Major lay down beside us on the roof as you search for your son, stay with us for a time and lend us your warmth The heating bill gets turned back on tomorrow

Bottles of pills sitting on the bedside table, Percocet, Darvocet, Valium, tissues from crying Magnum P.I. plays in the background, T.C. flies by saving a life

Lyra pause for a moment from Orpheus’s sad song and play a tune to soothe our thoughts, Divorce courts, parental counseling, and Alanon meetings drift away, wisps, ephemeral and forgetful

You sit up, tar gravel from the roof sticking to your jacket, a smile, wide and eager breaks free from a face full of tears The moon is full and beaming, radiant in the sky

You bask in the light