Summer sets the chairs out on the sidewalk.
The sea keeps unfolding on our skin.
Voices mingle; laughter opens
shortcuts between people who have yet to meet.
Afternoon stretches the blue beyond the rooftops;
we walk within that light
and find it hard to fit indoors again.
Night comes. Beneath our feet,
the ground still lingers in the day.
And then, night arrives before we do.
Autumn crackles beneath our shoes:
each step stirs up a little summer.
The way home smells of wet leaves.
There is a strange tenderness in this falling away.
We come home earlier,
listening to the wind go on its way
down streets we no longer need to walk.
In winter, the table remembers a bonfire.
Steam from the soup rises among the voices;
I lift a spoonful to my mouth,
and the taste warms my soul.
In a sip of wine, the sun of other years
still finds its way to my lips.
The night is vast beyond our shoulders.
One of us reaches for a forgotten word,
and the conversation makes room for silence
until they can go on.
One morning, green begins again at the tips of branches.
Flowers fill the air with a light we can breathe.
I find myself making plans
for the days that are growing longer again.
So much has yet to be born in the life we thought we’d lived.
The sidewalks shine again,
and the air carries the hope of a new era…
Welcome, Spring!
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