For Ruth
We couldn’t foretell the future.
Who can? But with hope, trust, desire
On the wedding day, we made pure,
Our breasts pressed, blanketing with fire.
Outside a blizzard blocked the streets
And dazzled the windows light white.
Later, later, we heard the night,
Unafraid, as we stretched smooth sheets.
Forty-three years and nothing’s changed —
Not between us, not you, not me.
Newness, like children, we arranged.
We held them, then we set them free.
My love, I hold you in my arms,
Our kisses silence all alarms.