Someday I’ll Love Hurricanes (and River Eagan) | River Eagan

by RIVER EAGAN

After O’Hara/Reeves/Vuong 

Let the sky open while I shake hands 
with my cynicism 
rain-washed, sloppy fingers 
praying rage-sodden whatevers. 
Let me be drunk on the earthy smell 
of air on insolent palms. 

Let me seize the rising 
floodwaters in my home.
Bathe in a torrent of 
thoughtless objections—  

            River, come back, there
            are children to love and 
            clothes on the floor and
            history projects asking 
            for your attention.

 Let me open my hands and 
find my home has become
where the bayou meets the calls of the shrike
so that my children may learn to play 
the reckless way dogs chase squirrels. 

Let us remember our names 
are only stories
stories reservoirs for something 
Too big to hold, too hard to divide— 

River, come back here, have you forgotten
to go to the grocery store? And where 
are the eggs? Why are you grinding your teeth?
You have a memo to write before Monday. 

Let me fall into my own hands and 
let the love I am reaching for
be more than an echo, 
make it something I can be drenched in, 
let it reach out and back again,
a soaked sweater sticking to my chest 
a cold that makes you shudder and soar.