Ann DeVilbiss: Spell for Empty Hands

Spell for Empty Hands

I gave you
riot and thunder,
rest and feather.

I gave you all
the salt I had,
marrow too.

Blame the clouds
for your fear of lightning
and you are a fool.

Don’t hate the dry grass
for lack of rain, the endless sky
for lack of horses.

There’s no more fault
in an empty room
than the dust we left behind,

to mark it. If I had been there
when the earth rose
too fast to meet you,

there is nothing I could have done.
If my hands are empty now,
it’s not for lack of missing you.