July night.
Full moon rising.
Deep blue shadows.
Through shutters,
lacy silhouettes of oak trees.
Fan overhead on low,
circling-slow.
Ready for bed, for sleep.
Not much cooling
to come tonight,
so I turn down the quilt,
rest on top of
the clean sheets…
And I feel in all my being
this ordinary good day…
how many times we laughed,
joking and teasing…
how we discussed
the headline-news,
troubles of the world,
and talked each other
off the ledge…
how I finally came up
with an idea for dinner
and you went to the
grocery for me…
how we conferred,
arms around each other,
as we walked over
to water plants for our
vacationing neighbors
and you discovered
you forgot their key
and had to walk back
home for it but instead
of thumping our heads
and grumbling, the forgetting
made us laugh, too…
how we kissed, often,
how we hugged, often,
often both at the same time.
And I really, really like you.
You come to bed now
and lie down beside me…
and as always,
a goodnight kiss before sleep.
Heads nestle into pillows,
my right hand
in your left hand, loosely clasped.
And I whisper, “This is the best.”
And you say in that delighted
and amazed way you have,
“Really?”
And I say, “Yes.”
And the full blessing moon
slides in to fit exactly
between two slats
of the shutter…
and my tears come
sliding down
for this best,
once-ever,
most beautiful life.
Ann Keiffer
July, 2024
Image: Digital collage by Ann Keiffer
