Engagement

Breathless (he)

The first time
he saw her,
he knew it
was going
to take
another
fifty years
to catch
his breath.

Boundless

This is the
kind of love
that just keeps
going.

Natural Bond

Maybe it doesn’t
have to be
so serious.
Maybe we don’t
have to make a big deal
out of spending
the rest of our lives
together.

Real Magic

Life might be
a miracle,
but I never knew
magic
until I met you.

Long Shot

What are the odds
that in the span of the infinite
galactic tangle of stars
and quasars and black holes,
somehow we found
each other?

Vision Change

You see me better than I am, she said & I’m worried what’ll happen when your vision changes

True Things

They came to sit & dangle their feet off the edge of the world & after awhile they forgot everything but the good & true things they would do someday.

To-Do List

You seem very calm for a woman who’s getting married, I said & she nodded. It’s on my to-do list, she said, so there’s no point in agonizing about it

Tilt-a-Whirl

I remember the lights of Atlantic City reflected from her glasses & there was the tilt-a-whirl right as she kissed me & I spun happily in circles for a long time after that.

Small World

We sat in the car & the night dropped down until the only sounds were the crickets & the dance of our voices & for a moment the world became small enough to roll back & forth between us.

Single Mind

If I love you with all my heart, she said, what will you give me? & then she stopped & said I didn’t have to answer that because she was going to do it anyway.

Side by Side

We sat side by side in the morning light & looked out at the future together.

Right Practice

It’s hard to say the right words without practice, I said & she whispered in my ear, Say them as many times as you like & we practiced late into the night.

Quiet Spaces

We had gone far enough together to listen easily in the quiet spaces.

Quiet Prayer

As long as the sun shall rise goes the old lovers vow. But we are children of a scientific age & have no time for poetry. Still, I offer a quiet prayer of thanks for the sunlight each time I see your face.

One Us

Today all I could remember was the way your body held the ocean of my self & for a moment there was only one us in all creation.

No More Secret

I will always remember the day
the sun shone dark on your hair
& I forgot where we were
& kissed you lightly
on the nose & suddenly
there was no more secret.

No Words

I read once that the
ancient Egyptians had
fifty words for sand
& the Inuit had a
hundred words for snow.
I wish I had
a thousand words
for love,
but all that comes
to mind is the way
you move against me
while you sleep
& there are
no words for that.

No Difference

There was a boy with skin
as dark as the earth
& a girl with
eyes as blue as the deep
& they loved
each other so well
that people could
not tell
them apart,
for in their hearts,
there was
no difference
between them.

Mr. Right

He loved her for almost
everything she was
& she decided that
was enough to let him stay
for a very long time.