the only color outside his window,
her red kerchief flags a cove
fogged in the day�s first incantations

he breathes in coffee and salt
as she touches her lips, breast, hips -
a tentative press to test the welcome ache

he expects her smile as she turns
but not the way it grows into its own presence
and balloons inside him, filling all things hollow

downstairs, she�s set the breakfast nook
with chrysanthemums and soft-boiled eggs,
white china fragile as a fishbone

as delicate as her guarded arrival,
a poise she allowed dismantled
in the copper light of evening

their bed sheets a noisy, naked river
he coaxed painless poltergeists -
let ghosts escape from the borderlands

this morning, she swings lightly through
the screen door onto his lap,
feeds him bits of toast, kisses

~