Patience


I want to capture you in things,
store up the memory of you
like a squirrel hiding nuts
in the ground, soon to freeze.

I want to catch your fur
in the inner-heart red of the poppies,
with their petals soft to brush
against my skin as I run by.

I want to store your laugh
in the song of birds
we'd watch -- the distant
chirp that fades into song.

I want to gorge the air
with the sweetness of your smile,
the defrosting tenderness
of pollen-scented spring, flowers opening, and --


I want, always, like a stone
that catches the sun and radiates
that heat into the cool night,
To keep your love inside my heart.