belated promise ring

sunday morning

my rebekah's sleeping in with me again

there's a kid outside the church kickin' a can

when the cedar branches twist she turns her collar to the wind

the weather can close the world within its hand

and my mother says rebekah is as stubborn as they come

they both call to me with words i never knew

there's a bug inside the thimble

there's a band-aid on her thumb

and a pony in the river turning blue

they say time may give you more than your poor bones could ever take

my rebekah says she never wants a boy

to be barefoot on the driveway as they wave and ride away

and to run inside and curse the open door

i once gave to my rebekah a belated promise ring

and she sold it to the waitress on a train

i may find her by the phone booth with a fashion magazine

she may kiss me when her girlfriends leave again

they say time may give you more than your poor bones could ever take

i think i could never love another girl

to be free atop a tree stump and to look the other way

while she shines my mother's imitation pearls

sunday evening

my rebekah's lost a book she never read

and the moon already fell into the sea

so the statues of our fathers in the courthouse flowerbed

now they blend with all the lightning-tattered trees

they say time may give you more than your poor bones could ever take

my rebekah says she knew i'd want a boy

a dollar for my boardwalk red balloon to float away

she would earn a pocketful to buy me more