Quiet Fires

You left the kettle by the window

Steam had silvered every pane

I found your scarf beside the doorway Still carrying the smell of

rain

Across the pass, the cold wind turns The old road keeps the

marks of wheels

I hold the match,

the dry wood burns And ask the dark what morning heals

Come back by the mountain water

Come back before the almond blooms

I kept a place beside the fire

I kept your name inside this room

A wooden bowl, a chipped blue handle

Two copper coins beneath the bed

The village dogs begin their calling

As winter loosens from the bed

Across the pass, the cold wind turns

The old road keeps the marks of wheels

I hold the match,

the dry wood burns And ask the dark what morning heals

Come back by the mountain water

Come back before the almond blooms

I kept a place beside the fire

I kept your name inside this room

If the road has taken everything

Leave one stone beside the gate

I will know the shape and weight of it I will know

you were not late

Come back by the mountain water

Come back before the almond blooms

I kept a place beside the fire

I kept your name inside this room

Come back while the coals are breathing

Come back while the hills are blue I kept a place beside

the fire I

kept the door unlatched for you

The kettle cools beside the window

The first bird calls beyond the roof