Blue on the Horizon

Horizon Blue
One unopened gallon
Blue on the horizon

We bought the paint the week before
You packed the westbound car
Horizon Blue across the lid
Same shade the sunsets are
Your sweater stayed beside the stairs
The dog still watched the drive
I told myself the kitchen wall
Was something I could finish right

Blue on the horizon, blue across the wall
Blue on the horizon
Your Sunday list on the fridge says it all
Milk and something sweet in your slanting line
Every sunset turns that handwriting blue

I rolled one coat from floor to crown
Left the radio down low
At the fridge, the roller caught
The corner of your yellow note
I stopped with blue across my wrist
The dog looked toward the door
That little unpainted paper square
Became the loudest thing I owned

Blue on the horizon, blue across the wall
Blue on the horizon
Your Sunday list on the fridge says it all
Milk and something sweet in your slanting line
Every sunset turns that handwriting blue

Milk and something sweet for Sunday
A future written small
No goodbye inside those letters
No warning on the wall
At dawn I washed the roller clean
And opened every blind
The paint stayed blue; the room turned gold
Blue changes with the light

Blue on the horizon, pale across the wall
Blue on the horizon
Your Sunday list on the fridge says it all
I washed the brush and opened every blind
Blue stays blue, but changes with the light

Horizon Blue
Unpainted square
Morning through the window