Evolving Tones and Rocks in Rivers

I’ve been curling slowly into withdrawal of late
Slowly, discreetly; time marching on
With no complaints, with no fanfare
Just reduction 

Instinctively pulling away, retreating
Into the landscape of my mind
Ever so slightly, subtly distancing
Myself from that which strains and doubts  

After returns from brief adventures
Removed from your reality for a matter of days
Sometimes retreating to your periphery 
For a matter of hours 
I return like a steady wind
Seemingly more confident
Perhaps finally learning to care a little less
I find you changed

Bending just a little, you become the branches of a young tree
Flexible, again, certainly not at my mercy
As you hold your own while swaying to my whims
Bending into smiles that your face can’t find  

I find your tones evolved
Your tone of voice, tone of movements
Your fight quieted
Tone of words, tone of choices
Your arms a little more open
Rarely reaching
But open 

In these brief times
You course gently through our life like a river
Around the rocks of me
A quiet stream, accepting of its place
As if belonging here and nowhere else 

Feeling gentle currents against my skin
I prayed the breeze would continue
So I could dance in the falling blossoms
A little longer 
But three days was all you gave me 

How long will you be, next time,
With this extra touch of grace?
With this extra little drip of suppleness and tenderness?
How long must I wait to experience it again?

Need I wander here and there
Just to remind you how it feels
To flow around me?

Need I fade in and out of your path 
In hopes of reminding you time and again
How hollow the outline of my absence can be?

You deserve the gentle flow
Exactly where you’re meant to be 
In overflowing supply
Content, at peace with our life 
But here with me, now,
Three days was all it gave you

.

May 21 – 23, 2025