for Kate

my poem for you

would wear sky blue feather boas
\

and swing her feet while sitting at the breakfast table.

she would miss tuesday nights for no reason at all

(except when she was living them)

and crave banana peppers from her neighbor's garden

at 3a.m. on a school night.

she would shout lovely words into the crisp fall air

just to hear them pop and crackle like dry leaves

and would just as soon forget

the ultimate secret to winning a heart

in her haste to tell you about

the door she just came through.