Don’t Forget to Come Home Tomorrow

Together

we watched the glow

of a bitter orange sun

sinking in the west –

you insisting upon

seeing that final moment

before our day star

dropped below the hills.

I walked you home

just like any other night,

the dogs sniffing secret scents,

the smoke from burning trees

torching my lungs.

We hugged goodnight,

knowing tomorrow was

not just another day …

 

Afterwards,

I stood here on the porch

staring up at a waxing moon.

Venus and Jupiter

Shone bright –

Shivering diamonds

bring in ‘the light of darkness’ –

Twilight, when the Earth sleeps,

Cicadas sing on .

 

Once inside the house

the power went out

just as I placed your name

in my holy place

surrounding you with bears.

The sudden loss

startled me – an

unwelcome reminder.

Neither

of us has the script

– the future is unknown.

 

I sent you an email

“star thoughts”

told you I loved you,

dear companion, friend,

difficult, impossible

man that you are.

 

Your response –

“we are lovers

how nice”

I don’t know

what you were thinking

you couldn’t have known

I had been star gazing…

 

This morning in the Bosque

the scent of mowed grass

and the sound of the river

embraced me in the dark.

I was back at dawn

to say goodbye.

 

Now I will spend

the day waiting

until its time to call

to find out

if all went well –

as if any operation

was simply a blip

on a screen.

 

This one is not.

 

You forget everything else…

 

But don’t forget

to come home

tomorrow.