Empty

children on a lawn
a river,
nothing moving but
the sun is moving
slowly across the sky.

later
I thought I heard
you say something
but it was nothing
just a passing word
someone else said
and I heard.

I wanted to believe
that in time all our blemishes are healed
and we turn out to be
actual human beings
real and free.

I wanted to believe
in the supreme indefatigability of love
of all dreams come true
of me and another you.

Children in a storm
running through streets
paved not with gold
but knee-high in slush and sleet,
empty like a dream.