Traveling Light

I'm only leaving you
for a handful of days,
but it feels as though
I'll be gone forever—
the way the door closes


behind me with such solidity,
the way my suitcase
carries everything
I'd need for an eternity
of traveling light.


I've left my hotel number
on your desk, instructions
about the dog
and heating dinner. But
like the weather front


they warn is on its way
with its switchblades
of wind and ice,
our lives have minds
of their own.


--Linda Pastan