The Way Back

Charlene Langfur

How will we get past the trouble

when it is too deep to brook,

get past it any time at all in the dark

or in the light or in the middle

of June, under the half-moon when

the flowers on the orange trees

bloom like little stars, in a time

of first love like a time of dreams

when nothing is as what it seems, steady

or true, a time to rebuild a small world

that works when I am trying to put

myself back together this way

in time, finding balance, wishing

everyone around me well no matter

what is happening to the world

at large at a time when the moon

rises over the mountains like

an old friend come to call at night,

one small touch of the light

in a big dark