The Last One to Say Your Name

I can promise

That one day

You’ll be a mountain

Solid rock formation

And all the names

Of all the folks

Carved into your cliffside

I see stairways on the mountain

Letting people

Scale your majesty

Remark on your sweep

Admire your permanence

That is what I’ll do for you

I’ll make you unmoving

You reached out, didn’t you?

You grabbed for my hand

To see if I was here

And a hundred hands reached back

Which to hold

Which to grasp

Which would save you

Do you think?

All I can be is a voice in the room

Saying softy—It’s okay, it’s okay

And today might be the day

A little room is all you get

A northern view

Of a setting sun

A few plump pillows

A half-filled cup of juice

Two books you’ll never read

And a faded magazine

Your hair’s been washed a thousand times

Your teeth are scrubbed

Your feet are pink

You smell like a new car in an old neighborhood

People touch your arm

And speak confessions

To your bad ear

And you forgive them for the things

You don’t even know they did

For them, this is when

You disappear

Once their last remark is clear

Once they’ve said their peace

They put you to rest in their mind

And they stumble towards

Their new to-do lists

I’ll be the last one in the room

A remaining hand

To play the score

To fiddle with the notes

And come up with a coda

For when the moment

Introduces itself

This is when I tell you

About the mountain you’ll become

Or the shoreline

Or the trees

You’ll go out and down

Or up and high

And nobody will ever

Accuse you

Of being here and gone

One day, I’ll attempt the mountain

Or skip the shore

Or try the trees

And within that core

Of time and trust

You’ll seem to remember me

I’ll identify myself

And that’ll be all

Because I don’t mind

Being lost

I don’t mind

That my time was rented

That my breath was borrowed

That my space was held

I find more of myself

In the magician

Than I do the poet

I’m rescued by the clock

There’s the chime

Where’s the time

Gotta run

It’s been fun

Anybody seen my rock?

You see?

I’m not quite good

At poetry

But I promise

That one day

You’ll be a mountain

If not a tall one

Than one that’s deep

That goes far into the earth

And is hardened by its core

You will never be forgotten

You will never break apart

No one will ever ask who you were

Because I’ll keep you in the center

I’ll remember

I’ll remember

I’ll be the last one to say your name

The last one to say it

For the very last time

By then, who knows

Where any of us will be

Or what anybody will look like

Or what will be remembered

But you—

You will be a mountain

And I will rest against you

And my last words

Will be

Your name