inside

the rising tide has climbed too high
so the people have gone inside
a wave of inequities unaddressed
crashed into cemented back alleys
sure, i can make a cup of coffee
lay in a sunbeam on the rug
and sweep dirt under the couch
i can bake bread, cut my hair
but the sea still covers our city
no longer ignorable for anyone
i look at the lilacs on the table
and i realize a purple has never
bloomed a gradient so rich
and mom's voice on the phone
a crackling copy of the real one
the warm notes carry love me do
an echo of past comforts
outside, the sea rages on
delivery boxes float to porches
as doors remain shuttered
inside it's about time we learned
to start looking inward
maybe what's real, what's beautiful
what's worthy of love
isn't what we grasp for way out there
it's in the house beside me
and down the street, across the river
it's right here behind the door
i closed so many days ago