Environmental Impact Statement

Blue is the swing
of my lips from side to side
as I frown and frown
at what we’ve done.

Blue is the color of me
whistling past the graveyard
I have made of my home.

Blue is the shade
of our impotent
disapproval.

Blue is the wing
of a thunderbird
caught above us
in the smoggy answer
to the question,
“What have you done
for me lately?” Blue
is the laughter of
triumphant myth
righting itself.

Blue, the sky’s blue,
deepens as the earth imagines
itself healed, patient again
with our dwindling presence.

Blue, goodnight blue, kissing us
good bye, glad to see us go.

Blue is the color of our absence.
Blue is the fact of it happening.

Blue is the way we used to think
heaven would be, and blue is heaven
without us.