Monday, January 22, 2018

Still good at 50 years

Hal and I celebrate our 50th anniversary this year. I never really thought I’d be old enough for this event, but here we are. We’ve decided to celebrate all year long, especially on the 23rd of each month. The real date is August 23.
When we became engaged we decided that we’d celebrate each anniversary with a poem. I’d write one for him and he’d write one for me. I still think that’s a wonderful idea. Very romantic. But real life is not always romantic, and if you want to know the truth, Hal owes me 49 poems.
Here’s one I wrote for him, years ago.

EVERLASTING

Long a connoisseur of the commonplace,
I flick cathedrals like lint from my sleeve.
Scholarly tomes slip-slide through the cracks
in my mind, leaving no trace.
Monuments (cheap, plentiful, easy to construct)
I erase from memory without compunction.

But the way you look at me
burrows deep, sequoia thick.
Your slightest touch leaves an indelible mark.

The lights in your voice are forever.

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