You & I
I saw the leaves floating gently to rest
And the old man sitting quietly
Gazing out across the ocean water
Embracing all of its beauty one last time
While he waited to be taken away
I thought, life is so brief and full of longing
That the end of our days would be kind
And the result of our journey
A reflection of how well we have loved
Even of how well we have lost
I know that I don’t want to die yet
Because I only just met you, here
And although happiness is ephemeral
I should like to know someday
That we had built some of our own
“With you I move through deep water, as in the night dream that called to me
The one where I swim in the darkness among the imposing, silent monoliths
In search of something that makes sense
With you I lean into what is unspoken, the undercurrent of quiet knowing
More powerful than speech, illuminating realizations that bubble to the surface
Guiding my instincts toward home
It is not a action, it is a letting go
A surrender to the ambient water and immersion in its ancient wisdom
Pulling the tides of past and future to a place where I am finally whole”
Do not awaken love before its time
Before she has time to cocoon
And heal in that liminal place
Where lessons and full hopes
Are joined in a living wisdom
That will guide her through
Each beautiful day with you
With a renewed confidence
That enables her to embrace
This union unencumbered and free
With expectancy for things to come
The center of who I am is with you
Where undulating patterns of that life that surrounded us
Then fade to grey in the shadow of our bright union
And time is counted in the distant echoes of the same song
Which played in my mind the time when I first met you
And wrapped us round and round in gentle sure ties
That quiet the well-worn wishes we fervently held
I express my love for you in sign language
Because speech is far too vulnerable
It feels more intimate than speaking
Feels embodied and brave
Just like touching hands with you gently
Tracing your fingers and feeling your warmth
These are things I have never done before
That feel more profound than words
You came in a dream to me
One so ephemeral and sweet
Featuring a snowy landscape
The picture of Winter happiness
With skates and cold and red noses
With fingers rubbed together fast and warm
I saw myself meander through the crowd
Eyeing the lights and trinkets
Reminding me of the night we met
Then turning, turning, always turning, to find you
Holding out my hand for you to take
Off to continue on our way
On solar winds we fly
Wings spread without a care
Passing each storm with ease
And delighting at the sight
Of beauty’s vistas flitting by
To soar ever higher
Where the sun’s swelling blaze
Causes us to marvel soberly
At the fragility of life
And of the steadfast Wind
That finally lifts us up to touch
Our promises written in the sky
You complete the pictures in my head
The youthful visions of intimacy
Painted with the chaste strokes of an ingénue
These images, once marred by distortion,
Are now peacefully congruent
Depicting the seraphic figures
And pastoral rhythms
That signal a return to wholeness