“Are the stars out tonight, I don’t care if its cloudy or bright
‘Cause I only have eyes for you, dear.”
For months she has stood outside his window, a pane away from the man
The man a part of her breathing for so many years
They took in air in unison,
built the same dreams
had the same children
lived at the same address
Entwine, their lives are entwined
When friends thought of one the other came into consciousness
without bidding, their presence interlocked by time and duration
Engulf, their days engulfed one another
built on a promise made, a promise kept
Their lives danced like lightning bugs in each other’s orbit
Sharing “flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table on a roar”
so Shakespeare said, like the twinkling of a million stars spritely filling the dark
Engorge, their lives engorged one another
Filling bellies with food or babies
Filling hours with conversation or cuddling
Filling fresh flesh with fine lines,
age providing character and coveting
They have witnessed time’s progress
through each other’s eyes and the timbre of their voices
Envelop, their lives enveloped one another
Holding hands in movie shows and later, on long walks as old people
In the night his fingers reach out to her breast pulling her in close spoon
for comfort or consumption
From passion to romance to daily life where
each affirmation is a letter of love sent and received
Enswirl, their lives are enswirled by the world
that has built barriers between them
The touch of hands separated by glass
The touch of minds tousled by seas of his confusion
The touch of hearts confused by memories with more presence
than the face that is here today
Enforce, their lives broken by enforced isolations
So insurmountable – so resolute
The Corona world surrounds them, batters them, separates them today
So tears and confusion and despair fill eyes so familiar they could be her own
A plaintive plea issues from a voice whose tone harmonizes with her own heart as if emanating from a choir of one
What can she do
How can she reach out through glass and rulebooks to hold her man
Her presence reassuring for his anguished mind
Through menial labor - washing dishes, she can buy brief time in his embrace
Through work she was not meant for now, she purchases an opportunity to soothe his heart
with the touch of her real hand and nothing between
At night, sitting together in the light of the window
they name stars -- lightning bugs that have travelled with them on this long road together
The night sky – so full of stars in the dark and in their eyes
Enjoy, their lives can be filled with enjoy
The close of one more day of their forever. They are
“the stars out tonight.”