Ashes And Beads
by Joseph Immel


I was ashes; you brought me a glass of milk
and I spent the night touching memories on
the beads of our necklace.

You brought me a plate of food, of cracked eggs
and bread cakes, and we giggled together.

I sat on the bench by the riverbank
with my shoes off, realizing I wasn't alone anymore.

We knew it was time to hold hands,
and we held hands. We leaned over, put the sound
to our ear and heard the ocean.

I heard you call my name; I called your name too,
we whispered it in our hearts, our eyes said it
for us with silence:

There is a riverboat passing and two lizards
sitting lazily in the sun,

Holding each other in this dance of stillness,
come, smell the wind with me, sweet as it is.

In the summer, every firefly is a kiss from me
sleeping with us in God's treetop.

Nizar Qabbani