Refuge

I knew long before I met you

that someday I’d find home

in a face that I’d seen somewhere

just beyond the veil of sleep

I think we laughed

I think we danced

I think we caught up over coffee

like old friends do

But I’d awake

and the thought would leave me

taking flight

The pieces of my dream

dark birds in a morning tree

scattering into the blue light of dawn

A brief remembrance of

a kiss on my brow

fingers laced together

pale laughter

dancing feet

The details

blurred and fading

with the daily living

But I felt you all around me

keeping me company

while I softly sang my inner soliloquy

The knowledge of you

knitted into

the marrow of my bones

Life hadn’t always been kind

Love hadn’t always been true

But somewhere I knew

on a path not yet taken

You were walking through

a twisted branch forest

of your own

I had to dive deep

into the dark sea

of my ancient heart

to find you

I was shipwrecked

Gasping

Grasping

For dry land

But the shattered debris

distracted me

Kept me

Patching sails

Rebuilding the vessel

Endlessly

And another tidal wave would roll in

And I’d begin

the rebuilding

Again

and again

Days and years passed

and I had almost forgotten

The dream

The lyrics

to the old tune

that my heart softly crooned

And then

When I least expected

You Arrived

like a vision

of long forgotten things

of buried dreams

of hope that had left

on a midnight train

Taking your hand

I stepped

across the threshold

of a home

I’d been searching for

A Refuge from life’s brutal storms

And everyday

I’m remembering you

Remembering the almost forgotten melody

The words floating back

of ocean eyes

and warm campfire nights

and heady laughter filling the empty spaces between

the dark and the light

The places I have carried

in my being

in the long living

The spaces between dream and reality

that have somehow always

belonged to you