A-Yes, You

1. Yes, You

Awakening, lying alone
On cool sheets,
You were the first thought
In my mind. I say your name
Several times a day
Aloud. It's magical.
Bubbles rise in my blood.
So even now, I speak
Slowly the four syllables.
Can you hear me?
*
There's a conference
In London, in September.
Seminars, readings,
The whole writing thing.
I've got six days.
Three for the conference,
All six for you.
One day, the Tate,
Waterhouse's red-haired
Girls, and Millais'
Ophelia, floating
Downstream amidst flowers
Under a glaze of water.
We could meet.
*
2 a.m. My sleep restless,
Downstairs you appear
And begin leafing slowly
Through my manuscript,
The collage of my life.
Your dark-haired head bent,
Thousands of miles
From home, you question
A word--now, bolder,
Insert a poem of your own.
Meanwhile, the dream
Is changing... you uttering
The 'yes, yes, yes'
That needs no translation.