Breaking the Blue Bowl

I am the tiny, irate, scolding person
standing in the dome of my own skull.
She shakes her head again, arms crossed, again
disappointed: I’m clumsy, struggling, dull.

Then there’s the shattered wine glass,
an afternoon misspent, a dinner gobbled,
rank laundry, unpaid bills, uncut grass,
and, I suspect, one lovely friendship bobbled.

And yet, I’m here.         Alive.
                                             These yellow swiveling
leaves, this carnival of wind, make me recall
I’d love my neighbor if I loved myself
better.

               The sky’s a million geese unraveling
in blue forgiveness. Love the tattered fall.
Forgive yourself.