As if it were today,

the thoughts
are a whirl, 
confused,
excited, 
& dumbfounded -

Standing in front of me, 
she has 
a smile that charts the heavens 
of unexplored space– she

is a brilliant prism 
of multifaceted loveliness 
striking me gobsmacked 
with indescribable delight —

I stare at her like a devotee 
having a beatific vision
of an oasis after crawling in a desert

Terrified at first, at evening
we stroll together a mile down Church street
next to the Old Baptist civil war cemetery 
with upward gaze, we are fairy-sprinkled 
by a star-bedazzled night.

Her peridot and orange-speckled 
eyes dance with the stars too 
which we give names 
while pointing them out along the way, 

Holding hands, the surges begin-- 
raw energy tickling through each of us 
like the lunar ocean tide 
mounting higher, we ride the currents 

until we become
the blushing sky, 
the embarrassed trees, 
the cornstalk scarecrows, 
& us

children of the universe—
flushed with innocent wonder 
our subatomic cores combine  

radiate
crackling Tesla coils
pulsate in sync
with the night's chirping rhythm 

our hearts are quadraphonic 
the binding is palpable
opening the bulkheads 
to young wonderment, 

I am a glad pupil. 
 
She is my poet princess
training me
teasing me &
tantalizing me

if we scale too fast, 
she gently throttles: 

"breathe." 
"savor the moment."
"let it build." 

--our celestial bodies 
share an orbit by gravitational tension 
one with the ancient song of the zodiac,
new stellar systems birth 
from our combined singularity.

Sadly, four years ago, her quasar
was torn away into another quadrant 
to leave a miserable void in mine.

Yet black holes are necessary 
in the creative scheme of things
worming a network 
between the galaxies

A certain nighttime luminary 
still twinkles at me
with her prodding smile.