by Julie Britzman Van Brasch

We came together guilelessly,
Ease being present so quickly

What now is this caution in your eye?
As if you are scaning for trouble;
As if pain were a deeper truth
Than happiness is

But how are you to know that I’m sane,
Which is better than not being crazy.
Don’t use our time fretting,
I’m not that complicated

Nor do I have heavy baggage
That I will make you carry
If we travel together as a couple.
Relax, no heavy lifting is required to love me

Oh sure, I have baggage;
Only the sages do not carry
The weight of their past
As a kit to their future

But my case is not so heavy,
And its wheels are mostly the good, slippery kind.
Just a small carry-on
that no one but me is responsible for.

This poem was submitted as part of our communal poetry project, voces (voices) of the people (poets). If you’d like to contribute, please review the link, and send your poem to betweenfigandyork@gmail.com