lin reads some of the vineyard poems

she wants to go there

i warn her   time has passed   covid

hit colin's grandfather hard   he's not the gruff

intimidating man he was

yenny has aged so much   colin

does not carry his responsibilities lightly

mateo   the vineyard manager

is in ice detention   i ask lin

if that changes things

not a bit   she says   i want to meet these people   

you write of so lovingly

i want to see the golden hills   i want to be a part of it   

i have so few people of my own

~

i'm hesitant 

we have changed   all of us

over the course of the last few years   

the light-heartedness is gone

the bar-hopping   the dancing   

there may be no sage words from colin's grandfather   

i know that it's important for lin   

to be introduced

it's only right that we should go   still   

i have my memories 

they are crystalline   the word shatter comes to mind   

the sound of breaking glass   

do i want the people i love 

seen as lin may see them   as ordinary

~

it is a rhetorical question

of course we will go

we may even go bar-hopping   go dancing

we may shake it up

marketa and i will make dinner   yenny will direct

colin's grandfather

may spin a yarn   he may growl

we will raise a glass

to mateo   colin will rise to the occasion

and no one

will be ordinary   love obviates the possibility

they will love lin

how can they not   and she them

these are my predictions