To Don

I was loved by you,
and you were loved by me.
but one day you left me.

My stretched arms could
not bring you back. Instead they
came back to my chest,
to press it tight,
to keep beautiful and strange
sadness to see you go,
all to myself.

The sadness, the eternal
beckoning of love,
not just any love, but your love.

The love that dwelt in eternity,
not in the grid of ordinary time.

In your invisible presence,
you help me see more beauty,
teaching me to elevate my spirit
to make each fleeting moment
of memory, eternity.

You’ve been gone a long time.
But I meet you in the silence
of our place, in the salty smell
of the sea, of Iowa fields,
among the olive groves in Tuscany,
in the soft clouds of Irish sky,
among the faces of starved
children..

Always coming back to your
gentle gaze, playful
like a dancing sunlight.