barely a whisper, perhaps only breath, but it's there between us,alive, almost separate from us, translucent, blurred and vibrating, and all around us is the cloud, those who watch, encouraging, smiling, singing, holding us together along with the bond, and above us all like a canopy, sheltering, loving hands reaching down to enfold and protect

when it's time to go she always knows without me having to say anything, it's one of those little things i love about her, so thoughtful in unexpected ways, so many people only think of their own needs it seems...she thinks ahead, she plans, she considers, and she's almost always right about what we'll be doing later and the resulting harmony in our life together is amazing, calming, reassuring, comfortable, and so easy to take for granted, so i try to think ahead myself but my practice conversations never work out, my plans have always included a blunder in decisions, so i usually leave them unspoken and unwritten, but i keep practicing them because every once in awhile i do something right...and she smiles because she appreciates my effort and she knows how i struggle with it...she always understands, even when i've made horrible, painful mistakes, and she always forgives because she knows i fail from a lack of aptitude rather than a lack of desire, and she knows i am devoted to her to and to God and none other...she always smiles when i try to make her smile, i think that's because she loves me in my ignorance and my foolishness and because of my devotion and my effort, because i try to take nothing for granted and almost always notice her thoughtfulness...she treats me like a king though i should be a slave, and i try to treat her like a queen but the best i can do is usually something like head scullery maid, but she gives me credit for trying

filling in the spaces between our love with time and waiting
or
do those spaces fill themselves with the disappointments we've swallowed

when i promised forever to love you
did you believe i was big enough
to do as i said

and when you promised to respect
did that include all the times i would belittle you
or your mom
or your sister
and your friends
and your work
and your speech

or did we promise to God and he fills in the gaps and renews our hearts and our minds
through the truth that is the spirit he gave us through Jesus
so that each day the pains of yesterday's mistakes
are forgotten
and we embrace anew
in love
just the three of us

a small blue thing, she said
fancy poultry near the ironbound section, she said
days of open hand, she said

was it an eye or a marble
what makes one chicken fancier when the skins are off
and was it for slapping or to demonstrate no need of fear

unlike the minstrel or the mistress
she wanted to be neither
only herself

but i had designs on her voice
and sometimes her hair and the way it should frame her face
and she sang me to sleep with the song of sand

she just wanted to spew into the ether, i think
and maybe make a living
and i have no right to her time

but artistry is about fantasy, mostly
and i wanted to escape the prison i'd made of my life
and she started singing from the magic box...