My Mother / I Didn't Know How To Explain

My mother asked why I sleep so much,

and I didn’t know how to explain

that dreams are the only doors

you still remember to knock on.

She wondered if I was depressed,

If my life was the reason

And I didn’t know how to explain

That you come in like a storm, 

and tear my city apart.

She often thought I was daydreaming,

Like a child watching the T.V. in a red cape,

And I didn’t know how to explain that I’d been meaning–

That I was waiting for you at the threshold.

Even when you are late.

And when I didn’t answer back,

Which I never did,

She simply sighed and closed the doors,

And let me drift to you again–

Once, and for all.