BENCH

Mildewed ash, sodden,
reposed in memory of rain
tucked deep in evergreen
cloister, inviting company

We paused, hushed
by your solitude
your splendid isolation
and circled in, past your
rhododendron guards
to linger awhile in
canopied light

You gathered us
into your arms, to glimpse
all you surveyed:
fading winter's breath
suspended as half kiss
upon fallow earth,
a whispered mist
embracing young limbed
pines impatient for
frost's first weep.

You paced, toe upon heel
upon toe, skirting my gaze
dodging all offerings and
caressing fingertips only
across blade sharp rock
unearthed like memories
of childhood lost and
manhood lamented.

So I waited, cold bottomed
counting stones and breathing damp,
banking on love regained
in spilled dreams;
Hopes for a last new Spring
lined up like mandarin ducks
like the mustard fossils
you placed to mark our grave.