fingertips stenciling love and stick figures
on breath-fogged car windows
clear blue sky
photographs stapled into dusty calendars
hanging on parts store walls
the roll and click of filing cabinet drawers
or crunch of leaf piles on October afternoons
rain hissing against summer blacktop
antiseptic needle stings
langorous afternoons sprawled on couches
the zit of bug zappers smoking mosquitoes
birdsong and honeysuckle
midnight skinny dips
thoughtful arguments and toppled chess pieces
Father’s Day cards
and Halloween candy
freshly cut grass between toes
cold grape soda and cool Guiness
holding a sick child’s hand
words with many-layered meanings
looking into your eyes, or anyone’s
and wondering about the future