"I do." -Alexandra B and Robert L

ANNIVERSARY

Most of the memories no longer hurt.
Now I can look carefully, objectively, at the wreckage
and pick out from among the charred embers of our structure,
from the crumbles that were our foundation,
a pearl unsinged, a wicker basket intact,
a stuffed bear with only the slightest odor of smoke in its fur.

Soon I will smile back at our smiling faces in a Christmas tableau.
Someday the stone obstructing my heart's view will give way
to a warmer, clearer appreciation of what we had --
not good, not bad --
just the gift of experience.
Then I can absorb and cherish the precious lesson.

Apart from the secret I kept for so long about
what did not work, what did hurt,
I do remember loving you.
I do remember joy between us.
I do recall the comfort of familiarity --
our own language, our own laughter.
There was a certain synergy, but not syzygy,
the ability to be independent as we moved together.
This is what I have craved
and what we could not find.
It was not for us to have --
it was but one of the elements we lacked
in our particular chemistry.

So when we walk past the rubble,
when it comes to us in flashes or dreams,
let us catch the glint of what was the best
of our time together,
a gentle shimmer from under the ash,
and recognize it as a blessing
to grace the rest of our lives.

10.22.00