Many Times
There is the absolute way
Of doing it, and we have done it
Many times and again —
How I will come to you
How you will meet me
The early morning sun
Perfect on the bed, and
Stripes in the Mexican blanket
Like blood, the sea, yellow iris petals —
And it is a silly lovers ritual of ours
I hug you and you hug me and step onto
My boots, and I walk you and me around the
Sunlit room, the sway of patchouli in your hair
And your face smooth against my lips
Like the inside of your hands
Day And Night
How often have we
Stepped together into water —
You left your clothes on the rocks
And shivered your way to me
Said it was freezing as I thought
Of the mountain stream filling this
Clear basin of evening light, and how
Swallows showed us the angles of the sky
Far above barbed wire and pasture heat
Which we came down from after work
Smelling lilac in the breeze —
And it was the long blonde hair you shook
Out of a blue bandana and later braided
That had me remember the day and night
The Skin Of Her Neck
Tonight, because her hand
Is in pain, the small finger
Swollen, yes, I’ll stir the
Batter, although she is better
And first taught me how
Something is done right
And I came from behind
And smelled the skin of
Her neck, the long blonde
Hairs alive and the blouse
White and rough, tucked into
A thin summer skirt —
Winter, near Christmas
3 feet of snow and her
Body moves across the
Cabin room with summer
A clay bowl with
Colored stripes in her
Arms, the fresh heat
Of the flat iron stove
Lamp
After supper
No longer summer
A windy night ahead
We sit in the kitchen
One lamp
Read before the fire
Nothing else in our lives
Boots drying
Rain on the windows
————————————
BOB ARNOLD
I'm In Love With You
Who Is In Love With Me
Longhouse 2012
