"pause"

the clouds moved with time's intention,
blubbering across a topaz dome
at the pace we wish we could live
these days

arm-in-arm we walked, on the path,
calmly and surely, as if we knew as much
as the chanting sparrows and ravens overhead

the distant foothills--
"that way's monterey," you told me--
mumbled something from their velvety hearts,
a plea to erase
our troubles

surrounded by puddled craters
in which geese and algae cavort,
we come around the loop
and lift our eyes to the scene before us--

a Thomas Kinkade panorama,
misty greens and shadowed curves,
dappled sunshine speckled in suburbia

the wheat around us sways;
foxtails dance, their windy murmur
teasing our ears

we pause.

my hair behind me,
our elbows joined, our eyes
a blank canvas for nature's wary song--
for a moment, for just a moment--
all is right.
the clouds shy by, the swallows dive,
for once we break from the constraints of time--

it's all perfect on the page;
all is right before
the ebbing hills,
our hearts can deceive us
at a time like this--
and so, we walk away.


April 9th, 2011