I Think of You, Fondly
On the rampart
standing face to the wind,
your hair, how you tucked it,
your other hand laid against the stone.
I remember the stone
laid a thousand years unmoved
by sea and wind, even time,
but for the lichen you touched;
how the years can etch a story
subtle as lichen on stone,
beautiful as the wrinkles
at the corner of your eyes.
A story I watched
as each line was written.
That day we walked the old city
held within its hug of narrow streets
each turn bringing a new horizon.
It’s a wonder how far we travelled
without getting lost
in the years
of those winding streets;
your early-riser penchant
for productivity; making
honey-do lists ignored---
me, usefully idle, I joked
on the patio content
imagining its backyard denizens
courtiers of the sun’s kingdom,
knowing
why the sea broods
always wanting
more of the land.
Every day
I read our story
like braille, my fingertips
lightly tracing our lines
knowing this life of ours
was never anything more
than a long good-bye.
On the rampart
standing face to the wind,
your hair, how you tucked it,
your other hand laid against the stone.
I remember the stone
laid a thousand years unmoved
by sea and wind, even time,
but for the lichen you touched;
how the years can etch a story
subtle as lichen on stone,
beautiful as the wrinkles
at the corner of your eyes.
A story I watched
as each line was written.
That day we walked the old city
held within its hug of narrow streets
each turn bringing a new horizon.
It’s a wonder how far we travelled
without getting lost
in the years
of those winding streets;
your early-riser penchant
for productivity; making
honey-do lists ignored---
me, usefully idle, I joked
on the patio content
imagining its backyard denizens
courtiers of the sun’s kingdom,
knowing
why the sea broods
always wanting
more of the land.
Every day
I read our story
like braille, my fingertips
lightly tracing our lines
knowing this life of ours
was never anything more
than a long good-bye.

