The Sailor's Rest

by Don Jacobson

“Love is a complete existence through which you move, thrive, and are nurtured. You are ‘in love’ much like you would be ‘in Rome.’

“You talk of your Elizabeth as the warp to your weft. That is apt. Men like us weave love’s tapestry with the women who have chosen us. If both partners refuse to release their shuttles, the pattern will remain. It will not unravel.

She is the eternal scent of Home, that safe harbor my soul craves.

Their love was burled walnut burnished by life demands, appreciated only through a gentle touch delivered from behind closed lids. From their first meeting, a door opened wide, flooding his life with dazzling brilliance. Anne Elliot was—had always been—his world.