An Ode to Dorianne Laux

SUBTITLED: Hope in our Hyundai

Brandon and I had just bought our home.
Shining, gleeful, ready to take on the world,
While we should have been loving all that was right,
We had spent the day assessing all that was wrong,
Nonetheless, we cleaned the kitchen, my sanctuary,
As we spoke of the garden, the indoor plants, and the green wall,
His retreats from the daily deeds.
We were in tune to each other and it was
Real.

When we left the house to return to our outdated,
Our hated, once loved and longed for loft,
We had no choice but to refuel,
Before the thirty mile trip.

Exxon signs are hard to miss. Less than a mile from
Our new home the red and white beacon promoting
America’s finest gasoline appeared as if Karma herself
Had been looking out for us. I noted the price of a gallon
Of Regular along with the sign reading
“Full Serve.”
The price was right and Brandon said to me, in a way I’ll never forget,

“I’m going to be spoiled.”

It was that moment when I knew that the world was still mine
To hold and to keep, to give and to love, to be there, for him,
And to be there for me. This is the man I want next to me.
This is the man I need to be near.

As he always has been.

I know now that we can do this.
We can, and will, handle all that we must. All that we have
Is so much tethered to one another, and so open to the future.

We have the wishes of the world. And I don’t know who to thank
For that.

jb