Missoula

I called you the first time
asking if you played guitar
Chad gave me your number
he told me you were just
getting your feet wet
but a lead was a lead
and you, so immersed
already in place

Your guitar all wild and jagged
its dissonant chords chimed
to angular bass melodies
primal scream drums
adding tension and urgency
to crucial words

Kindred from different worlds
old friends long and lost
you shared defining moments
and shed illuminations on them
through cruelty of close quarters
among young dudes in a van
through shifting ground, we walked
it was more than I deserved

When you left, I wandered
in my own direction, wondering
when I’d see you again
if here or somewhere else
the planets if in orbit

overcoming crazy accidents
shouldering their weight, moving
through in steady grace and kindness
sifting through its resolution
in finer strands of being

New worlds you bestowed
connected dots and bridges
through places, bitter mileage
context compressing space
on edge of a rocky brow
in mountains outside Missoula
an eagle perched and watched
us contemplate its stillness
in brisk sun, the edge of March

Those gravitational pulls
defied static between poles
clarified the noise of time
melting it away
warmly resolving its distance
frozen moments in places
where we’ve intersected
to call home for the day

Redeeming a world irreparable
dispelling cynicism, deeming worthy
of your life, and time, and days
breathing light into its future
brightening the mornings
shaking them off
optimism to carry with me
until I see you again

Gathered in your wisdom
knees in armed extension
to give lift to your journey
the sudden cruelty now cast upon it
if I can repay redemption given
along the line of distance and years
I’ll close that pain off cold
and bring it back with me

Matt Mauldin

Santa Barbara 

MM 4/2018