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A Better Place

— to a neighbor

Do they make love better in heaven or is everyone above it all?

If God’s presence makes heaven preferable, 


what do you call it

when your beloved looks inside

and you feel expanded beyond pain?

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I’d let him go if he could have strong legs

and a steep slope with snow that flies 


into his face as he races down, looking over 


his shoulder to make sure

I’m there.

I’d let him go for the perfect road 


where he could bend with his Harley 


painted with gaudy flames.

And if I could send him his piano

and harmonicas and Charley Musselwhite blues harp


song book and red concertina,

if I could send him his favorite Hawaiian shirts 


and his side of the bed

with both of us waking together on a Sunday morn 


and two scrambled eggs laced with cheese

and pancakes with pure maple syrup and KCBX 


playing some blue grass

and he’d write a note back, 


I’d let him go, I would.

Perie Longo

Perie Longo, Poet Laureate Emerita (2007–2009) of Santa Barbara, California, has published three books of poetry: Milking the Earth, The Privacy of Wind, and With Nothing Behind but Sky: a Journey Through Grief. She has been on the staff of the annual Santa Barbara Writers Conference for over 25 years, taught in the California Poets-in-the-Schools program since 1984, teaches poetry privately, and is the poetry chair for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. She is a psychotherapist who integrates poetry for healing at Hospice and the Cancer Center for Santa Barbara and Sanctuary Psychiatric Centers and is a past president of the National Association for Poetry Therapy. “A Better Place” is from her collection With Nothing Behind but Sky: a Journey Through Grief and is reprinted by permission.

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— to a neighbor

Do they make love better in heaven or is everyone above it all?

If God’s presence makes heaven preferable, 


what do you call it

when your beloved looks inside

and you feel expanded beyond pain?

Sponsored
Sponsored

I’d let him go if he could have strong legs

and a steep slope with snow that flies 


into his face as he races down, looking over 


his shoulder to make sure

I’m there.

I’d let him go for the perfect road 


where he could bend with his Harley 


painted with gaudy flames.

And if I could send him his piano

and harmonicas and Charley Musselwhite blues harp


song book and red concertina,

if I could send him his favorite Hawaiian shirts 


and his side of the bed

with both of us waking together on a Sunday morn 


and two scrambled eggs laced with cheese

and pancakes with pure maple syrup and KCBX 


playing some blue grass

and he’d write a note back, 


I’d let him go, I would.

Perie Longo

Perie Longo, Poet Laureate Emerita (2007–2009) of Santa Barbara, California, has published three books of poetry: Milking the Earth, The Privacy of Wind, and With Nothing Behind but Sky: a Journey Through Grief. She has been on the staff of the annual Santa Barbara Writers Conference for over 25 years, taught in the California Poets-in-the-Schools program since 1984, teaches poetry privately, and is the poetry chair for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. She is a psychotherapist who integrates poetry for healing at Hospice and the Cancer Center for Santa Barbara and Sanctuary Psychiatric Centers and is a past president of the National Association for Poetry Therapy. “A Better Place” is from her collection With Nothing Behind but Sky: a Journey Through Grief and is reprinted by permission.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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