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