Write it down quickly
before I forget
in the car with D. and N.
cutting across America's seasons
muggy sunlight in Santa Barbara
wet snow in Denver
and in every Best Western hotel
the TV's flickering light
on her dear sleeping face
like a young girl once again

but writing down the words
alters what I want to remember
that which had no words
was a living breathing image
so now I have two versions of the same
today I can superimpose them
but tomorrow when I'm gone
only the words are left
signs evoking something
that no eye sees anymore