That brief moment Walking into the shaded apartment to find you reading in flannel And everything in me jumps The camera obscura of my iris snaps, Suspending you in amber light. The tapered elegance of your fingers across a page A glint of Versailles blue-gold eyes And fortified ramparts of your shoulders. I will carry this vestige with me In a petticoat pocket Until we are old And your arms do not lift me as you just did The last strand of your hair is silver And your cheeks sink with age like your fatherβs. These small gems of youth Of promise To keep in a sleeve until they are needed And the mirrors show reflections we cannot change