Counting backwards

Don't count backward
three planes and thousands of miles
but you will say: I haven't had this silence
to be, to create, to assure peace come along,
somehow.

We are all afraid of chaos,
the wind that can carry us away
in one sweep, of the noise
of how much the words 'I miss you' can
become a rock on our ankles

I speak of longings like I do
about bread, like it is a saving grace
to live on the edge of everything;
too much goodness,
too much food then once you find yourself
idle, fear becomes the key

with which you survive what others
have taught you to forgo
falling of old hairs
shedding of comfortable skin
you cannot cast away the ideas
that float in your head
just remember do not count backwards
what can take you forward.