This Man – Series of Poems
This Man
Brings me hot tea with honey and milk
Soothing my worries before bed.
Takes my face in his hands
Reassures me of his unending love for me, for us.
Kisses me gently as a seal of his promise he has kept for more than a quarter century.
This man
Massages my restless legs
Lulling my mind to dreamland
Covers my bare shoulders with our shared blanket.
In moments of desperation and exasperation
This Man
Asks if maybe I need the meds again.
Maybe I need to . . . .
Speechless we are both.
Tears speak more voluminously than any word.
And Then
This Man
Takes me into his arms and
Holds me, holding my grief with me.
###
This Man
Says, “Let’s take a ride”
Three days of rain colored me as grey as the sky capping our valley.
We drive the valley,
Capturing photos of the
Moments we relish
each time we sit on the porch.
This Man
Stops every time I say Stop, even when it is ten feet at a time.
Points out many, many things I do not initially see.
Including the bald eagle nesting across the way.
This Man
Adjusts the camera because I am clueless in its operation.
I see it in my head
He
Helps me bring it out of the digital machine.
This Man
Drives for hours in a single valley
Drives across soggy hay fields to
Shoot the bald eagle even more closely, metaphorically, of course
Drives into the Jefferson National Forest
Drives on roads no longer maintained by the Commonwealth
Drives on gravel paths, public and private
Drives along the raspberry bushes to snatch the season’s final offerings
This Man
Captures a bunny across the road, metaphorically, of course.
Captures the sun across the ridge after the rain
Captures the eagle in flight, nothing short of majestic magic.
Captures the wildflowers, the lichen.
This Man
Loves me in more ways than I knew Love could exist.
###
This Man
Hears my quiet sobs in the shower
Enters quietly
Asking permission first
I tell him it is merely Grief.
“I miss Dad.”
Final Scenes of Death refuse to leave the sanctity of my memory
He surrounds my shoulders with his
He grieves with me.
This man
Washes my hair
Conditions my hair
Showers away my tears
Whispering softly, earnestly of his love for me.
He
Promises to always be at my side.
Promises this Grief will lessen and will
Evolve into Manageable.
###
This Man
Leans across the divided darkness
Whispers
Tomorrow, I am going to get up early and drive into town.
I am going to bring back a willow tree for you.
Together, we will
Plant the foundation of our love here.
Tears flood my face with a nod and a
Gutteral Thank You.
This man
Reaches down to the farthest corner of my fears and
Brings me to the
Light of Love.
