Friday, February 14, 2014

I remember


For Janet Young

I remember an album
            Father hear your children call
            Humbly at your feet we fall
            Prodigals confessing all
            We beseech thee – hear us!
I remember flowers, and photographs
            of flowers.
I remember snow, a mere half-inch,
            the third snow I’d ever seen
            each a mere half-inch
            each filled with magic, wonder
            but nothing like the third.
I remember sitting on a curb, trying
            to avoid your waiting
bus ride north
            my waiting car drive west
I remember the phone bill Ma Bell
frowned upon, demanding
immediate payment before
it was due
I remember driving north with the dog,
            leaving near midnight to drive
            five hours in the night arriving
not long before dawn to go back almost
the same way, the same time
I remember, always remember,
            the time becoming we,
            becoming us, the first valentine
            signifying what was to come.

Photograph by Vera Kratochvil via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.

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