A Love That Grows Far beneath the Skin

for Ron at a computer training conference in Boulder CO   

A Love That Grows Far beneath the Skin

for Ron at a computer training conference in Boulder CO   

Cottonwood feathers swish around the hotel,
Sometimes in gale-force like a snowstorm.
After a few claps of thunder, the rain came

And then stopped after a few minutes.
I’ve spent five hours alone in this room
While you attend your training sessions.

The luxury of five uninterrupted hours—
Minus roughly a half-hour of housekeeping—
Shine like diamonds on a freckled neck.

And I have about three more hours left
Until your sessions end and you return.
We will go eat and shop and explore Boulder.

I will look for things to put in poems, things
Like mountains or cowboys or the laid-back
Style of the Colorado college students.

You’ll look for trinkets to take back to the kids
And encourage me to buy a dress or another turtle pin.
Maybe we’ll splurge on rich dessert and coffee.

Back at the hotel, we’ll maybe take a dip in the pool, 
Or just relax and converse in the quiet love we cultivate 
For each other—a love that grows far beneath the skin.