Beyond Compare

This is a poem I wrote for Annie recently, after Love Over 60 had already gone to press. Bob

Beyond Compare

for Annie

You look at me

differently

than you do

anyone else

on earth.

And I see your eyes

as I see no other’s…

for they are

like no other’s

and no other thing,

yet many others

and many other things

are like them.

Like

but not equal to

or the same as

--the dark wondering

of a

child

studying

her first

falling leaves;

rain puddles

holding the sky

within their small borders;

the fierce stare

of a painter

churning her pallet

into purples and reds;

the high sun

of summer

the low sun

of winter;

the moon

so full

with song

even the deaf

can hear her

--all strive

to be worthy

but end up

on their knees

as do I

before your

fierce

and tender royalty

…but unlike them

I hope to rise

when you

tap my shoulder,

reborn

incomparable

in your incomparable

gaze.