50th wedding anniversary

TO HAVE and to HOLD

dedicated to JFS

first date-

he reaches across

to take my hand;

in an instant I know

he will hold it for life

the winter sun

through a window

warming my back;

the lazy comfort

of lunch for two

if I could turn back

I'd revise some stories

of my life,

yet, the part in which you come

would always be the same

youthful excitements

long ago put aside

for comforts of home;

my books, my music and wine

and you in my life

all these years

learning the ins and outs

of a marriage,

the last chapter not yet read,

not yet written

Red Lights, January 2011