March 29, 2018
I dedicate this piece to you 
”On your birthday”
I’ll send you
not jewels nor cowrie shells
which you can lose to bandits;
not linen nor Italian shoes
which you can lose to moth;
not cards full of sweet-nothings
which bouts of mood can flush;
nor will I burn the flying seconds
marking this whisking of a meteor.
On your birthday,
O morning flower,
I’ll send you these
lines as golden statue
that you may, through my
verse, forever breathe.
A smashing 2018th birthday!
