Rigid cold and white, a porcelain tub on four talons
Embraces her warm body as it languishes in misty
Bubbles whispering lyrics of tenderness in hot water
Streaming in a delicate dance on her pale pink toes.
Silent and alone beneath stars in a clear dark sky
Her memories keep her company
Recollections of three loving nights and days
Held in her heart now for safekeeping.
She can still feel the delicate trace of his fingertips
The soft aging skin of his body, passionate and burning,
Lips searching urgently beside the soft tunes on the radio
Their bodies stirring on cue, crying out in bliss.
Her tongue tonight, now sweetened only
By chilled Champagne in a Sippy cup.
Crystal flutes safe, high on a shelf,
His happy laughter brushes pain across her soul.
It was mere hours before that she watched him sail off
As it was the time before, and all the times before that
It feels like a hundred years ago,
Melancholy satiating her as a chocolate torte.
Their calendars on opposite ends of the planet
Will turn in the breeze a dozen spells
Before he returns to hold her again, for Christmas,
From the bed he shares with his wife.
KT/revised 1/16/16
Writer Paints 