.

learners permit.

i wake up from a dream
where you painted yellow split lines
down the middle of my back
and i asked you if you were coming or going
was this heading north or south
and when i saw you tomorrow
would you be riding down the right or
veering off across my bare shoulder blade
perhaps cutting a sharp edge
because everyone hates making left turns,
isnt that what they say?

and

unlike those flashing early morning lights
my temperately beating heart
cannot tell you when to go
but if you push down lightly with your thumb
on the pale blue vein
hiding just below the surface
of my thin baby wrist,
its clear that
the timing is quite simple
and i hope that you will guess what to do next.

because

the traffic is racing
and im here pacing
sleep interruption causes too much confusion
so i lie here patiently
waiting for my breath to re arrange itself
into a pattern i recognize
so that sleep can return
and perhaps then i will learn.