I breathe in deeply
behind your ears
and down the nape of your neck
as you shiver
notes of jasmine and violet both
gently fading as your
perfume slowly drifts

And then, with your arms
stretched above your head
I take you in again
sweet and seraphina
soft skin sensual
nothing rolled on to obscure
Your overtones
Lush and wild

And on your stomach,
tanned and curved
are hints of coconut from oil spread,
with soft lavender lingering from
a salty scrub, residue from
a morning bath
aphrodisiactic elixer
it draws me in

And then, in the expiration of anonymity
your truest nature comes to light
Scent before taste, I inhale
citrus and sandalwood
salted and sacred
ancient and esoteric
unbridled symmetry
dew gathering
with flavor so rich
it drips from your canyons
As are we, both swept away

I want your everyday eyes and your everyday smile
Your everyday laugh and your everyday guile

Your everyday love and your everyday pain
Your everyday sun and your everyday rain

I want your everyday body; your everyday skin
Your everyday loss and your everyday win

Your everyday breath on your everyday kiss
Your everyday stress and your everyday bliss

I want your everyday dance and your everyday stroll
Your everyday rock and your everyday roll

You're every day dress and your every day hair
You're everyday hug and you're every day care

I’ll give you all of my life and all of my trust
And all of my love and all of my lust

I'll share all of my hopes and all of my dreams
All of my plans and all of my schemes

Just the everyday you and the everyday me
By your everyday side is where I'll everyday be

I take on the world like nothing is wrong

I hide my emotions with a smile but something inside is different

A different person lives inside me

A person who is insecure and has no confidence

My eyes tell a different story, just look deep within and you will see

My eye are bright, my eyes are blue

But deep within you will see the truth

The years add up
But you never truly forget  
Just cover it up
with leaves, some brush
an old sheet or blanket
A drive
a new route around
Sometimes an old box in a closet
or under a bed work fine
to hide the time

until the winds of seasons change
bare it all again

..and there's never any tissues around

Never sure who's boss between us
He comes when called
several minutes later...

Blinking sweetly
smiling as only cats can
Golden, half-moons of sunlit bliss
watch fat yellow-jacket
marginally motivated

The hunt cannot compare
to the soft grass with its tender clover
a  full belly
and the meeter-of-all-needs nearby

But the quick jitter-dance
of an easy moth
sends the tiger
to the jungle of forsythia
Gleaming, stalking stripes
Alternating white of paws in precise approach
The prey?  Too quick
The predator?  Too old and lazy
prefers attention
Lumbers slowly back
lolling against coffee cup
Enough....

On needles of white pine
a secret lion has lain down

waiting only for the lamb

I suppose there has to be a reason
or at least a note
to mark that day--

He ate his breakfast
She let him out
He walked along the railing like the plank
defying death for pleasure
of his lady's company
to get his belly rubbed
sprawled long
across her lap

She released him
to chase the squirrels of his dreams
to his black cat adventures
to the aching green of life's
late summer ways

But, the days assemble against your return

May the angels find you quickly
my darling, Bailey
Dark beauty of coal
I was a Tuesday, bereft
You disappeared--
like the shadow of a whisper

Disappeared like hope--
in the last blow of day