The Future Came

1.
After we said all of those things
we walked around the living room
trying to make ourselves dizzy,
but not walking fast enough.
My dad tried to get dizzy in the basement
and my mom was dizzy,
but not in the house.
There were so many words in our mouths then
but all of them were very old;
they cracked and splintered
as they tumbled out.
And all of those old words
just made my sister tired,
she wanted nothing but new;
new and clean and fit
so she got dizzy in the park.

2.
My mother holds my child hand,
staring off in the distance
as if promised some new glory
just over the horizon.

3.
I played
Six Variations in D Major
by Beethoven
and cleaned up the mess from earlier.
My father tried to thank me
but all he could say was
“I’m shattered”
and I knew that already.

4.
My father is alone in the garage
fixing a bike
that no one uses.

5.
We held hands and wandered
up the street to the park,
where we found my sister
so dizzy.
The lamppost lights along the way
showed things how they were:
No one was where I thought they would be.