Fallow

Wait ‘til the day says it's closing

And public is put away

Write by the light of a pay phone

Your list of "I meant to say"

Like "Winter comes too soon"

Or "Radiators hum out of tune"

Out under the Disraeli

With rusty train track ties

We'll carve new streets and sidewalks

A city for small lives

And say that we'll stay for one more year

Wait near the end of September

Wait for some stars to show

Try so hard not to remember

What all empty playgrounds know

That sympathy is cruel

Reluctant jester or simpering fool

But six feet off the highway

Our bare legs stung with wheat

We'll dig a hole and bury

All we could not defeat

And say that we'll stay for one more year

Bend to tie a shoelace

Or bend against your fear

And say that you'll stay for one more year

With so much left to seek

The lease runs out next week