for Annie,
on the 8th Anniversary of our first meeting
We arrive at the sink
at the same moment
you
from the
workshop
I
from the garden
scrubbing the grit from our fingertips
smiling
in each other’s eyes.
We agree on sudden changes
in our
plan for the yard
arriving at the same conclusion
at the
same moment
with almost no discussion.
We agree on changes
in our plan for
the yard
arriving at the same conclusion
after fierce disagreement
and
finally
laughter.
We sip coffee and tea on the deck
feeling
the cool morning breeze
together.
We sip wine on the deck
feeling
the cool evening breeze
together.
We laugh at the machinations of the many
quail
families
chittering
as
their babies peck at the dirt
beneath
mom and dad’s guardian eyes.
We mourn over a crow’s destruction
of a
wren nest in the pergola.
We begin and end the day with kisses
still lavish them
alone in elevators
or on the street
or in a restaurant.
We get out the door together
on time
or early
every
single
time.
We savor food, books, our bodies,
yes our bodies
their capacity for pleasure
their capacity as instruments of
spiritual fire-making
their capacity to affirm
with a mere touch
that we
are something
real
in a world that often isn’t.
We savor imaginings, memories,
wonderings
…would we have met if this had happened,
or that…
and celebrate
that they didn’t
and we did.
We rub each other’s shoulders and
feet
hold hands everywhere
admire and cherish
each other’s spirit
and intelligence,
engage in outrageous silliness
which if revealed to the
public
would tank our reputations as
serious people.
We actually listen to hear
and speak to be heard
most of the time.
We manage to hold each other
tenderly
knowingly
at some point
every single day
in spite of, and sometimes because
of,
long-lived childhood despairs.
In the movie theater’s darkness
we clutch each other’s hands
and weep
over lost loved ones
war
inexplicable acts of courage
unrecognized
genius
the all too human
inhumanity of man.
When we get a splinter
bang an elbow
stub a toe
bump a head
when we feel the ache of muscles,
the wearing of joints
--pain in the hands
feet
lumbar
elbows
shoulders
ankles,
when we contemplate together
the long look back
and the ever-shortening
forward,
when we witness demon diseases
drawing down the shades
in the cells
of family and friends
…then we know
the usual search for miracles
is misguided
because each moment
no matter how
ordinary
mundane
routine
predictable
freighted with feelings
falling
far short of joy
is miraculous
is life
living itself
standing strong and bending before
its own wind
illuminated and blinded by its own
light
instructed and
frightened by its own darkness
mesmerized by its
own music
--the sound of tears
joining rain
laughter
thunder--
every nuanced moment
--even the uncounted
unnoticed
certainly uncelebrated
ones
--and every ordinary breath
a blessing.
C Bob Kamm 2015
July 16.
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