I Forget, and All the Letters

​I forget, and all the letters
Of my thoughts scatter,
And they don’t come back home
Till the light floods my habitat, or

The home of us all, as
Memory drives back to the mansion.
All these thoughts jostle
To fit into a scansion,

They shine flashlights
On each other, but fade to a wisp,
I forget, and my words
Are fried to a crisp,

Till I can’t stand your thoughts
'Cause they stand in my way,
And I douse you with coffee
In this lousy cafe.

And the job of some people
(Who are wiser than wise)
Is to open the vents
And blow the smoke from our eyes,

And restore our poor minds
On this rattling train,
Rocking and shaking 
To our original terrain,

They gather the scattered,
They rope in the strays,
They restore the poor herd
To the start of its days.

And the vine whose leaves
Are dusty carmine
Produces fine grapes
And a truth-glinting wine.