SEND OFF

SEND OFF

for Kate Adler


A whiskey word on bar
napkin for you in ball-point
because we know this is
what we came in with
and claim.

Say pearlsnaps and second
round hurrrahs, glint
us and us. Table in corner.
Half a hamburger. It’s
not exact, but close.
Half an answer, still
counts.

Our clapping cannot
make it up. So we fill in.
Tonight we say, the road
will curl up, the moon will
notch itself in a tree, the
neon will swerve and rain on
sidewalks speak our
name. We write it down,
quick.
Saying so
makes it so.