Interminably

The couple at the park had a little girl

who ran in constant little circles

her parents watched and played with her

and sometimes looked at us

but not nearly as often as I looked at them.

The couple considered us as we sat together

leaned together

as I gave her my coat

we weren’t a couple

but we were young and happy and

I think they saw my pendant swing forward

glinting in evening light

a rainbow scrawled across my chest.

So they looked at us more warmly and spoke to us

and their little girl ran around us in gleaming

dizzying circles

there was nothing out of the ordinary about them

besides what was out of the ordinary about them

no pride shirts or rainbows

painted on their skin

it was just a Saturday at the dog park and

they were just being.

I had forgotten

in my home where secrets tugged at my navel like a

ship determined to anchor itself to

the bottom of the ocean

and filled my mouth with the savage taste of

salt and warm water

That some of us were just being.

I can still see that evening sky rinsed pink

clouds outlined in fragile ribbons of fire

that little girl’s feet striking the earth

running in circles

running all the time.