I will meet a boy from Ethiopia, or Eritrea
I do not know the distinctions well
but guess it must be about religion

or ivory
or craven men
or nothing

I will not ask

Which is another way of saying
you will never reach home
if you cut the distance in half

He is visiting his brother at Berkeley
If he is older or younger
I cannot know the difference

I dare not ask

Eyes that sing Horus
Lips like Lauryn
Don’t think I haven’t been through the same predicament

I will think he does not know what he asks of me
Like a falcon negging a snake
about where its neck begins

He need not ask

En route to the house I share with my once-husband
I will think about the boy
and cut the road in half

and half again