Jeremiah Ray

night’s here
warm blankets
my body
& returning once
again

a still house
i wait
then you come

i tune the strings of my guitar

they resonate

almost perfect

now

there is something sweet

here

an empty house

and a melody

slightly

out of tune

fingertips
just touching now

no longer
the heat of summer

i awake to dusk

all is silver

gentle movement

the flutter

of an eye

scent is held

around fingers

you are here

come now

rain
even gentle rain
will take the flowers
of the peonies to
the ground
the color
of the petals
so beautiful
the earth covered
then gone

from the window
garden beds
the crickets ask
“why are your hands clean?”
“how are you you without
the earth?”

other years
it would be august.
now, there is deep longing.
wet leaves conjure up
my childhood.
maybe next year
i’ll find the melody
to nostalgia.

we all return again

who am i to know

still just setting out