Moments To Remember

When I was young
Sometimes    
I would spend the night  
With my grandparents  
Who lived on the river.  
My grandfather,    
Even after he retired,  
Got up early every morning.  
I asked him once  
Why he got up so early  
If he didn’t have to go to work.  
He laughed and said    
I guess I’m just used to it.  

Now, I am retired.  
I know now just what he meant  
Because I still get up early too.  
I ease out of bed,    
Let my wife sleep.  
I go to the other end of the house,  
Fiddle with this or that,  
Try to keep the noise down.  
Or sit in a dark room  
And watch it slowly fill with light  
As the sun comes up.  

My wife is a practical woman.  
Unemotional, not prone to affection,  
But on rare occasion  
I will return to the bedroom  
For something.  
Only to find her laying there awake  
And when I quietly go to leave  
She reaches out her hand  
And says,    
I want you to stay here with me.  
And so,    
                  . . . I stay.