Hoshi Nashi

There are no stars in Tokyo tonight
From this balcony I see only city
and it stretches for miles
Towers devour a Van Gogh sky
The city sleeps alone tonight

Mother sleeps alone in the kitchen
Father sleeps in the bed
Hana rests over our heads

There are no stars in the back yard tonight
I've forgotten exactly how I felt the day you died
Five hundred people came to say goodbye
with hearts of flowers and graduation slides

Sufjan played on the way home
my brother was in Mexico
When did Laney quit the swim team?

I had meant to write you letters
I had meant to make it better
I had wanted to express regret
through alphabets--they're better
than these words that I transcribed
from these visions I see every night
of angels dressed in black and white
taking Hana, taking flight

Spring blooms
The physician who heals all wounds
will turn the weeds that fill this empty room
into flowers in bloom