Here is the future,
a line to be crossed.
Someone has tied it
into a noose
with a loop wide enough
it will fit over all of our heads.
Sometimes at night
do you feel its heat
against your neck,
a burning you can’t explain?
Tell yourself the only
difference between a noose
and a lifeline is the way
you tie the knot.
Here, here are your hands,
persistent and willing,
able to loosen, refashion,
forgive. And here is tomorrow,
a line with your name
written on it.