“I love you as one loves certain obscure things,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.”
One Hundred Love Sonnets: XVII by Pablo Neruda in The Essential Neruda: Selected Poems

Such a lover of color he was,
always savoring, savoring the
soul-soothing wild indigo, the
blue of a summer sky and the
·
way a daisy with yellow tummy
and white fringe reminded him
to center. He loved the roses,
thorned and feral in racy and
·
raunchy reds and salacious
pinks accenting the landscape,
exploding with an earthy laugh.
Peppermint was known to trip
·
him into ecstasy; the licorice scent
of fennel to tickle his fancy from
hat to boot. Trees were gods,
with their bulk, age, and wise
·
gnarled trunks. He loved the
sun, setting in Arizona colors,
flaming yellows and oranges and
rising at dawn in New York’s
·
spring peach and pansy hues.
An amiable meal and a good
night’s sleep were raptures
treasured. A cup of coffee, a
·
glass of wine, magical elixirs.
He loved his child too, going
about the business of play, fresh
hands rummaging new worlds.
·
He loved. He just loved –
….today’s joy,
……..tomorrow’s hope,
…………yesterday’s confusions -
Oh yes! He loved me too.

published in 2011, rewritten in 2013

© 2013, poem, Jamie Dedes, All rights reserved,Licensing for online publications is nonnegotiable and requires permission, attribution, link to this site, my copyright, no modification, noncommercial only. Licensing for online publication does not imply agreement for further use in the site’s printed anthologies or collections.
Photo credit ~ Baptisia australis, false blue indigo by Phyzome via Wikipedia under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License