Love, that joker of the universe, so often
arrives unannounced. Its persistence,
I learned, can be a bag of coffee, handed
over a counter by a man with eyes the blue
of a Las Vegas swimming pool —-same place
you watched me gamble & we sipped
bloody marys, our mouths all horseradish
& joy. Aren’t we brave in our own ways,
& both winning, still?
Like those deer in Yosemite, you weren’t
shy. That night, the cliffs rose around us
like a painted movie set & I could almost touch
their slick noses. Some mystics go to the woods
& eat tabs of peyote to see god, but we
were high on cool air & the road.
Years ago, we agreed to keep traveling
toward each other, & that November, vowed
ourselves to this honest work. A courthouse,
a baker, a bouquet — how quickly
what is right comes together, handsome.
Your laughter rises to the roof of our home
like the cheers of a stadium packed full
& I am reminded again of what teams do
— move in a practiced dance to make
things work. You cook the chicken, I’ll feed
the dogs. Another day reaches its end.
Life moves, coiling like the vines
in San Miniato, & we are drunk off the fruits
of our labor, this hard work leading us
to the deep rest of the satisfied. Look
what we’ve built. It’s a colosseum,
or a chapel to be lost in, beauty at every turn.