it was july then
the cool night scented of indigo and lilacs
undulating over and under
entwined limbs, seeking solace
in our memory.
it has stayed there ever since,
illumed by splashes of neon fireworks
dripping across the night’s blueblack sky,
scarring and imprinting our retinas with
millions of blinding tattoos.
crickets serenaded us with scratchy arias
composed by master musicians of timeless renown
and the nodding grasses bent in time with
whisperhushed words floating in the air.
i see you, in bursts of technicolor light, ­sporadically
painting your visage in my mind forever with broad
strokes of amaranth, goldenrod, saffron
and i see you, clearer than before,
darkness lends clarity through blindness
i feel you
and it is july again
with oceans licking salted bare
skin and white sand gold dust
reflecting the ice fires of
Lyra’s silver strings.
quiet nighttime, jealous
waves reach to tear you away
but my embrace holds fast and
i feel you, warm beneath my hand.
hearts entwined into one, beating same
beats, pumping same rhythms
in time with the hum of the tide
in the bay by the harbor.
with stars as only witnesses to
rhapsodies unspoken,
i witness you. first and last time as
July again under your gaze comes to a close
each july, one lifetime younger
falling into infinity, celebrating a perennial story
of annual passion.
now it’s july
and arctic winds blow frost against skin
no longer warmed by harlequin ardor.
winter in july, and it won’t come undone
it’s still july
and i love you now.