Scrabble

You scoop up shells
and thoughts
from the sandy waters that
he no longer cries into.

You zip all your pretty words
into the blue rucksack
now too old to carry his laughter
to the fields.


Why did they tell you
you have a way with words?

You have a way with words only
when you give them away.
You have a way with words only when he walks them home. Or
leaves them behind on the tongue-tied scrabble board.
You have a way with words but



he knows your way by heart.