New Leaves This Color

 I will walk without you.
 I will walk without you into hills ruptured by tall shoots and haunting trees. I will hike to the ledge and contemplate the free fall beneath twisted limbs where creatures lurk, and perch, and screech.
 I will walk without you.
 I will write to the whisper of cedars, the hum of locusts, and the tick of crickets who will never make their way to Time Square.
 I will taste the ripe orange clouds of twilight; let their juices coat my mouth like melon.

I will 
                                                      sink
 beneath the blue,
                                                       [oh, my heavy lids].

 And when I am faint and tired,
 When I ponder you
 And consider turning around


 I will walk without you
     Into the darkness
            With God as my lantern,
                 Away.