My Suitcase Is Packed
by Scott Laudati

1. i know you’re home somewhere out there
2. in colorado
3. where the desert flowers
4. wait all year to turn yellow
5. and horses with spanish blood
6. whip their manes under lightning
7. as the snows melt down to refill
8. the dried beds.
9. somewhere where enough was enough
10. and you had to put a continent between me
11. and new jersey.
12. i’ve seen that land and pulled over
13. to swim naked where the white crests shatter
14. and freedom is something more than a dream.
15. there are no dead ends on your streets,
16. the rain only falls straight down
17. and even stray cats
18. come when they’re called.
19. i bled for you once
20. when the war was still far from over
21. and the end hasn’t gotten any closer
22. so i guess
23. i’d do it again