pickerelweed (1)

Three days before her second wedding and our friend looks stressed.
Expectations running high
striving to create the perfect day
as if any one day could do justice to the salvation of a love
so powerful it pulls two lives out of their individual orbits into one intimate propulsion.

The best days are never the ones that are supposed to be.
They are days like today.

Finding a dime on the sidewalk is a big deal in my family –
legend says my grandfather leaves these coins for us
encouraging messages from the other side –
you are on the right track
keep up the good work
i am proud of you.

Running late but you called and you are coming for me
and so I stop
to take another photo of another beat up old TV left on the side of the road
trash ignored by the Public Works
another treasure added to the collection.

I’m crouched down playing with angles and you drive right by
looking before you catch me in the act of art.
Getting into your car still so full of love from the night before,
having slept so fearlessly
full of your chicken and kale
soul smiling in the peace that flows in
stretching into the sunyata as ripples of orgasm subside.

I inhale the sugar of a brilliantly pink clouded cotton candy sky
so impossibly vivid my brain still buzzes hour later.
Autumn has the best sunrises.

And then to receive such a gift
from our wise fool sainted guru
celebrating me of all people
my three years reborn
in Zen watercolor pickerelweed lake stalks
rising tall into a warmth that’s barely started to light the sky.
To be so appreciated by this one person
we all so admire is overwhelming.

I drip happy tears sitting next to you
feeling so safe in your care
my child comes out to play
so excited to be alive on such an special ordinary day.
These are the best days –
decorated with joys we never thought to pray for
the proof God loves us
because (s)he knows all we really ever wanted were days like this
(even when we dared to ask for cliches instead)
accidental magic stepping forth from unappreciated corners
heads spin trying to take it all in
we are dizzy
just being alive.

-ag, 14 october 2015