Against Melancholy

Some things
should be marked
like serious, third
old friend, vanilla
sitting on someone’s
porch at night
eating ice cream

like the lusters
in rooms we dream
the dreams unlike
those places waking
as if sleep could color them
to resemble
our desires.

Then on good days
we can remember
how slanting down thru rain
sunlight streamed
green as bronze
to the pooling
forest floor.