-82- To the Lady from a Poet

Darling,

It’s been so lonely since you moved across the country.  
The sky is yellow here, but it’s blue where you are, rich and breathing.
Everything feels dead here, just heat rising from asphalt
in little visible waves.  All that was green and beautiful
left with you for California.  The ocean is so murky.
It only looks blue from far away. Summer’s just a season
when I can’t see you squint against the sun, or
wipe the glistening sweat from your forehead, or
down a whole, tall glass of lemonade.  The air never moves
when I don’t think of you.  I can feel your breath in the wind.  
It’s pulsing like your heart.

Love,