The Way We’re Not

The walk we had at Normandy,
where the coastlines,
of half-timbered houses,
of grazing cattles,
of Mont-St-Michael,
were endearing enough,
to take away our eyes
puppy-droopy for each other.

The Gondola ride we had in Venice,
where an ardent gondolier
serenaded us
the medley
of La Vie En Rose;
of La Mer;
of L’Hymne a L’Mour-
but none of his repertoire
was French enough,
to tune our ears
fuming in pink–
for the murmurs we exchanged;
for the kisses we stole;
for our rendezvous
‘neath and top the dirty-white blanket.

The snorkel we had in Maui,
where dancing blue dolphins;
where startled turtles;
where coral–pillowing crabs,
were entertaining enough,
to stop us
from playing,
teasing,chasing
our paling bodies
underwater.

The gazing we had at Empire State Building,
where the 360 panorama of New York City;
of busy streets of Manhattan,
of serene Central Park
of neon glowing Madison Square,
were of grandeur enough,
to keep our hands.
onto the faded chrome binoculars,
as we tenderly held each other. . .

. . . savoring our moments
while our hearts
screamed in silence,
“God,
please,
this is all we wanted.”