Old and Gray

The further from the edges
the further from the trim
The fewer the coats
the less you put in
I've got a drawer full of your notes
and word games that we played on planes
and five pages at least of you practicing
signing your first with my last name
Somewhere there's an orange on the table
somewhere there's a robe on the floor
and our writing on the wall is under three coats
of paint in an apartment we don't live in anymore
The further from the edges
the further from the trim
The fewer the coats
the less you put in
Laying eggs or even birth at all
A shoebox full of photographs from before the fall
Your dirty feet laid bricks below my hands
Somewhere there's an orange on the table
somewhere there's a robe on the floor
and our writing on the wall is under three coats
of paint in an apartment we don't live in anymore
The further from the edges
the further from the trim
The fewer the coats
the less you put in
I want to say you belong
but tell me how you thought that they would
react to your parrot colored song
When you are old and gray
I hope that someone holds you the way I would