Spinning arms and legs
A flying wheel
Of loveliness
The moment I fell in love
And celebrated atop Chicago
Songs of the heart
Together on New Year’s Eve
Thirty-five years ago
Waiting for the sun to rise
Running down the beach
Diving into surf
Fully dressed
Overwhelmed
With the beauty of the sea
And love
Sleeping under stars
By blazing fires
Hiking gurgling falls
And trout rivers
Flying snuggled to Kauai
To swim and hike and celebrate
A marriage nicely started
In the bright sun of paradise
Thirty years ago
Sand dollars for Tampa
Cats and all
Braving storms and lonely days
For sunshine and love
And a party in the pool
And a sailboat
Why not?
Bravely stepping on deck
For fifteen years of adventure
Down Florida’s coast and Keys
To the Bahamas
And the Caribbean Sea
Anchored under white-hot stars
On the edge of the abyss
Large rays jumping
And fresh fish grilling
Atop the seaward camp
Staring at shades of blue
Where we’d make love
In the surf
And harvest urchin shells
Whales and sunrise
And misty mountains
Emerge like phantoms
As gateways to new worlds
On a waterfall ledge
Cutely holding a guiding hand
Launching off
Into the unknown
Splashing into the clear cool water
Pooled below
A baptism of courage
Come sail away
We sang
Leeward to Windward
Trinidad and Emily
Shifting asphalt and India temples
Turtles the size of small cars leaving eggs in the sand
A farm market and doubles
Shark bakes and steel drums
We left our sails
To root ashore
In a dozen rings
We built our future
Past barking dogs
And wandering pigs
Raccoons nesting and armadillos digging
Strong limbs bent
But never broke
As old leaves fell away
And young buds flourished
Perched on a river
Of blazing sunsets
Crimson and gray
Woven through blue and yellow
Osprey soar
And pelican crash
Heron and egret glide
An alligator knocks on the door
And our eyes wander
To the road
Thirty-five years
And still chasing rising suns
Together
James K. Richardson