perfectly

you stop me in the parking lot
“i’ll take a kiss…”
my hand finds the small of your back
you lean into me

as our lips touch
i realize how i’ve craved this moment
to be wholly connected
to struggle through the hard conversation
to learn you’re still mine on the other side

the sun is setting earlier now
leaving only her last few rays
to streak the orange sky
but my world is pure white
full of light
“i want to be with you”
holds me deep into the night
wakes me up in the early hours
offers words like acrylic
to my old romantic soul

and so i paint

far into time
to a simple place
where our hands
are always joined
or working in the earth
where our children
are happy for us
having found each other
where our days and nights
are spent together

and that evening—our last one
candles flicker
every bit of your skin
connected to every bit of mine
our years come flooding back
so clearly, even through our tears
the linen curtains dance
in the cool night air
like we danced in the kitchen
the stars are lost in each other
just like we are
like we were that first night
discovering each other
laying the very foundations
that would keep us all this time

time
starts to slow
my old hands
peacefully release
your gentle caresses
ease to a stop
our eyes close
holding their final image
of each other
and the moon finally rests
as we fade away
perfectly

my amazing experience

the old lamp in our living room is finicky
so it stays on
better to offer its light always
than only half the time it’s needed

these bedroom walls could use a coat of paint
probably best to muffle their voices
so they don’t go telling stories
from our years of loving

and the kitchen table used to shine pure white
now a few too many late night wine glasses
have her a touch less bright
purple rings like bags under her eyes

but somehow you’ve escaped the years with grace
still floating when you walk
across the worn wooden floors
to greet me with your perfect smile
your warmest embrace
with the same kiss we kissed thirty years ago
proof that young love
between old lovers
can still be young love

and in those moments
i know the most difficult experiences
open doors to the most amazing ones
and i’m happy
to have had you
my amazing experience

in the sun

do you see that glimmer of gold?
that is my lover
floating in the salt bath ocean
giving the sun a run for her money

i held her in the sand
with the sea in the air
i could feel her breathing against my chest

i will never forget
the way she takes the light
and sends it back into the universe

she warms me
in the sun
my golden lover

fallen

i am shattered to a thousand pieces
fallen, scattered on the floor
i am taped and glued
and every touch is painful
moving forward, taking shape
i am balanced, back up on display
stronger now than ever before

i am searching my reflection
for something familiar
only when the light lands just right
can i see the old bits of me
reconfigured, reimagined, ready

and this is life, i’ve come to learn
to fall and break and heal
to start again with wounds and experience
to see with optimism
to believe what’s next is better

tension

i can tell your mood
by the tension
across the surface of your lips

last night
in the parking lot
your mood was delicious

no secrets

never before
have i wanted no secrets
i’ll be invisible
to everyone buy you
your eyes can slice me open
anytime they like