Late

night

lanai

cold

cigars

swizzled

sticks

warm

gimlets

fly

food

carnage

morning

flyover

now

surveying

remembering

music

laughter

words

kisses

alone

me

and

espresso

Liberty

expression

love

intimacy

opinion

freedom

words

belief

religion

music

politic

equality

choice

luck

is

my

country

and

service

of

brave

others

One

cannot

rush

destiny

or fate

they

are

patient

sisters

which

glide

skaters

on

frozen

ponds

or

dancers

in

ballrooms

they

wait

for

extended

hands

invitations

to

waltz

patience

and

grace

deliver

future

Landslide

avalanche

tsunami

burying

us

first

prurient

then

intimate

then

affection

now

accusation

arrest

incarceration

beneath

mud

snow

sea

Planting

you

by

other

bushes

watering

feeding

pruning

clipping

buds

popping

blooms

bursting

bleeding

henna

sunsets

you

my

dear

aren’t

your

blossoms

you

my

dear

are

simply

my

sunlight