The Moment

1.  
 
Longing is a woman at a window  
watching the forest inhale    
her lover like a cigarette  
at eight in the morning  
 
She boils water, peels potatoes  
before writing postcards wishing  
he was there to end the absence  
simmering like the soup  
all but thirty minutes  
 
1.2  
 
He contemplates maple syrup  
its translucent amber migrating south  
across winter the way that orange  
he watched her eat for breakfast did –  
its watery creek trickling down  
from the moist river of her mouth    
 
2  
 
Gratitude is a man coming home  
smelling like sugar maples  
to gaze through the window  
at his lover meticulously seasoning  
the soup, oblivious to his presence  
 
Her books disheveled across  
the wooden table, peels  
of potato and orange  
an earthy sweet popouri  
shriveling in the colander  
 
2.1  
 
She contemplates fresh cream  
it’s thick dollop dissolving  
into the broth the way it did  
on the warm apple pie  
between his lips last night  
 
3.  
 
Warmth is a man returning  
with a cord of wood just as  
his lover is buttering the biscuits  
It’s stacking the fire  
and washing up for a lunch  
of hot soup and bread  
 
It’s unexpectedly pressing  
her against the sink to suckle  
her buttery lips and tongue
 
3.1  
 
They contemplate only  
the moment    
~