You found me in a silver sheath,

Smoke cramped air, laughter, bass

Naked flesh, strutting nonchalantly through a crowd

Dollar bills offered, smiles bought

You found me.

 

The night we met, I went home to my boyfriend.

That house, sad and crooked,

Two mad eyed dogs

The dirt yard.

 

In time, you would me pluck from that place as if it was your right.

We drove away laughing.

The wind blew up beneath our coats.

 

You brought me to the house you built

And filled with children

You raised alone.

They twisted their smaller hands into my hair and clung,

Like burrs, intelligent seeds.

 

You asked and I said yes.

In a room which hung between the mountains

Decorated with hummingbird nests and monkeys, and carpeted with the sea,

We promised.

 

Years passed, a decade, more,

We released the spirit of a son.

We ushered in the spirit of another.

Side by side,

Side by side.

 

Your hair is grey now,

My vision dims.

We walk slowly in the woods each day,

Point to hawks,

To deer and to coyote.

 

We are clean air and sleeping,

We are talking and planting,

We are dreaming and drinking.

Our walk will be long.

 

You found me.

Thank God, you found me.

 

 

Author: Erica Leibrandt

Editor: Emily Bartran

Photo: Alyssa L. Miller/Flickr