Shaved and deodorised
nostril hairs plucked
cool shirt and pants
just check that handsome reflection
once more
into the bathroom,
step in a puddle
eww shudder
wet socks

she arrives
late and lovely
seems distracted
lean in to kiss her
a slight cringe

wet

on leaving
I say
I Iove you
tight smile
me too
she says

socks

She is old, maybe beyond her years
traveling the streets pushing her cart.
Her eyes show many of us our fears
of living, perhaps, beyond our years.
Yet she shows her dignity not tears.
Having little—she shares from her heart.
She has witnessed so much in her years
traveling with keepsakes in her cart.

I remember dancing in the moonlight
and a young girl who fit my arms just right.
Hair tumbling like a long brown waterfall
as we swirled 'round the room at the spring ball.

My eyes were fixed on no one else but you
the prettiest woman within my view.
Neither of our feet felt like they touched the floor,
a hint of what would so soon be in store.

I can not say which songs played on that night
but I recall, still, holding you so tight
and how I got lost in your laughing eyes.
Love caught me, unexpected, by suprise.

My eyes follow
a candy wrapper tumbling
up the street
right down the middle
of the double yellow center line.
I think I hear the street laughing along the
sidewalk, the red clover leaning into the sun
with green elbows, listening intently.