our life 

isn't wanting for much

we are rich 

in friendship and love

food for the spirit, food for the soul

we are sheltered from the storm

safe from most dangers

clothed beyond necessity

what we want

is

a mirror

this apartment has only one over the bathroom sink

so i say, babycakes

grab your little self, we're going shopping

we borrow colin's f-150

and off we go, down the bayshore to east pali

where we’ll 

trip the light fantastic at ikea

then avail ourselves

of breakfast at hobbie's

their crumb coffee cake is 2 dye 4

so terri says

we could find a mirror closer to home

down the street

but this has the potential to be fun, an outing

down the bayshore we go to silicon valley

making a game of counting teslas, ferraris, lotuses, lamborghinis

that is

until we hit east pali, ie gaza

~~~

ikea is

what it is

we find what we came for

and spend a happy hour in indulging in what ifs and somedays

with our full length mirror

safely in the back of the truck

we cross back into the safe zone for our late breakfast

which is high in calories

and almost as good as terri had remembered

sated

we head north on two-eighty

past stanford and the dish

past the horse farms

past the depleted crystal springs reservoirs

up to the city, up the 1

to our home sweet home

fast forward an hour, then another hour

for the inevitable trip to the hardware store for hardware

and the mirror is hung 

on the back of the bedroom closet door

i’ve been thinking about this for a long time

it has fed many a lonely fantasy

i disrobe my sweet saltwater terri 

slowly

lovingly

with many a kiss along the way

she stands before the mirror

as do i

in an equal state of undress

and gaze in wonder

at beauty incarnate

~~~

to the swaying rhythms of curtis mayfield's people get ready

i take my terri

to our bed and bed her

~~~

my sweet dolphin taught me to take

as well as give

now, master and pupil have become equals in the art of swaying rhythms

no longer do i await to be led

childlike

to the gates of ecstasy, if you will forgive my posey

i am comfortable leading this dance

i am the sultry siren to terri's wide-eyed, open-armed, unbound odysseus

she is joy, i am lust

~~~

if my sweet terri is the gliding dolphin

i am the leaping skyward

and diving to the depths dolphin

~~~

somewhere muse, daughter of zeus, is smiling

~~~

we live a modest life

befitting students

we make trips to our nearby market, classes, the library

coffee shops and cafés 

we spend time with our few friends

we live mostly within our thoughts

we want physicality beyond the bedroom

terri is a swimmer

with a swimmer's body as befitting a gliding dolphin

i am a runner

lithe, befitting the quick and nimble, leaping dolphin

our physicality does have real world expression

our bedroom antics being the post-podium celebration

~~~

movement

needn't be of the physical kind

movement

of the mind finds resources the body will never know

i would suggest stephen hawking as one example

i mention this

as my mind

when unfettered by worldly wants

travels to mystical places

the mind abhors a vacuum

so i spend a post-podium hour, adrift

~~~

i cannot overemphasis the importance 

of marcy, colin, antoinette and nathaniel in my life

they feed my soul

and terri has her own circle of friends

some are her swimming friends

a pod of lively and lovely dolphins

they frolic

were this frolicking lead to our sort of gliding and leaping and diving

would i weep, would i remonstrate 

i would not

i come from a long line of free-thinkers

my grandmother was a comet

my grandfather a supernova

explorers are the norm in my family

convention has never found roost in our humble abode

and i am the product of stardust

friends are the stars of our life

should passion extend beyond our now mirrored walls

i say as john and paul wrote, let it be

would i be true to myself 

if i were to raise green eyes to passion

when it is me who writes so tirelessly 

of those whom embraces it

i will not be the hypocrite

yet

yet, i ask this of terri

tell me

as i told her of my distant martha.

until there is marriage and children, i say, and will say, let it be.

~~~

there will come a day when i seek my distant martha

i refuse to put our two day electrical storm out of mind

there will come a day

not for some time, i pray

but it will happen 

on an evening such as this

my sweet terri will not be here 

when i come home

or, on an evening such as this

while i am at home writing essays

my sweet terri will not come home 

from a party of her pod

i needn't go to pythia to see it

my heart will break and heal

and be a little tougher for it

~~~

babycakes, my soul is at peace

my tummy is growling

i tap out text to marcy, colin, antoinette and nathaniel

i tap to the rhythm of touch me now

s'up, blue's?

blue's is a rib joint up the street

protein is wanted 

our fridge of pasta, salad, apples, wants to remain in darkness

terri begs off

botany is a cruel mistress

though, this is a ruse, and i don’t mind

she is too kind to say what she thinks

which is

having to listen to us spout references to dante and de castro

is asking too much

poor nathaniel endures too much of it as is

but he and colin have a way of disappearing

into some sort of warcraft of apparently endless diversion

~~~

terri, i say, my one true love 

i am off

ciao, babydoll, comes her reply, i love you 

and she means it 

and i mean it

but there is a hint of finality 

each and every time i close the door behind me

~~~

i listen to the rhythms of my heart

i always have

i cannot live without love

love is where you see it

it need not have physical expression

love is the peace of solitude

of sharing bounty

of listening

love is friendship

of missing what is distant

of pain which crushes the spirit

which proves love by the pain

beyond that 

love is in the mirror

it is the reflection

which speaks most honestly of love

if one cares to look

~~~

 i sense a ripple in the kosmic karma tonight