I am a red fleshy newborn In a room of strangers I can't identify Held by the arms of a mannequin A woman from the window of a bus at 2am I am a loud pesky child You are the black beaded bracelet on my wrist that Draws cathedrals, castles and tundra domes But won't pay attention in class or roll out the garbage For the man with the hat in a white Cadillac I am a wrinkled leather seat You are ashes, glasses, an empty mattress Abandoned home in the trailer park Growing weeds and wishing it was never conceived I won't be at your bedside I won't climb onto your sinking ship But I will be the cardinal Perched in the dogwood as traffic passes It passes and passes but never stops to hear you Play your pitiful violin Into the ocean, swallows you