To the girlhood bridges
Soaked in summer sun
Where dewy moss met wet wood,
Certainty stood in the kiss of insect legs on copper waters
Long young years saw days reflected
In little laugh-lines
Drawn by the breezy ballet of tiger lilies,
Drenched in light combing pines and a whole lot of grace
Silently, these secrets of the world unfurled themselves
Like the bodies of ferns so green they were gold
I held my hand to your shadow even then
Wondering if that was how I would know you best
August-bleached daydreams no longer linger
Atop liquid hinges of tomorrow
Your laughter this morning, is a canyon wall echo
Filling pauses once pocketed like pennies
Our gully courses copper rivers through its belly
Sanding rickety rock to smooth skipping stones
All this life and its brightness
Ever always wandering towards hazy sweet seas
With attics embroidered by roots of lilies and red oaks
Immaculately, immortally, imperfectly
Our bodies temper tirelessly
Bending beneath the soft weight of water
Now I know,
This is how I love you best.