It was so long ago
so many passing years.
I did not know If
I was happy back then.
Always working
never enough money.
children coming each year.
It was Springtime
I remember the lilacs were abundant.
We sat together on our old porch
a rare moment of us time.
our children were asleep
the youngest new as the spring.
seemingly ours forever.
hiding from us thier shallow roots.
that would be so easily transplanted.
This spring  morning early and quiet
I had no idea
I was happy then.
we drank hot coffee on the porch.
the newspaper folded untouched
full of war and drama of the day.
I remember looking at you intently.
Not as a wife or mother of our children.
But as that beautiful woman
I could never get enough of
when we first met.
The flowing golden hair of your head
tousled sofly in the morning breeze.
I was thinking only how soft it would feel
flowing onto my bare chest in our bed.
For a minute I was full to the brim
of you.
only you.
If only I could have
captured  that moment.
put in a jar
like a child collects insects.
to open again and again
through the passing years.
to breathe its sweet fragrance.
If you asked me now.
were you happy back then my love?
In that long ago glowing morning full
of the promise of springtime
and its flowering carpets
drowning in the fragrance of lilacs.
that proliferated the lattice
I would have whispered to you
Yes, my love,
very happy
so very happy.