– for Macha in celebration of our 14th wedding anniversary

i am grateful for the daily discipline
of mindfulness toward our bodies
that they still readily respond
to one another in a strong and supple embrace
the touches electric traces and taste of salt
where our separate seas flow together
until we are curled round one another
like planetary currents of liquid light sliding
slowly into one until we become an effervescent
swirling vortex of golden champagne
blood rising like boiling surf racing
to burst into blazing glittering booms
upon the warm sizzling beach foaming
with bubbles of shared mindlessness yes
i am grateful for times like this
when sense of separation vanishes
& we are content to blink dreamily
toward one another like sleek seals
satisfied upon this sighing sand
where sound, light & sensation
drum the hearts’ song wordless
rhythms of appreciation for the
surging cascade and searing neurons
yes this is pure unmitigated bliss
in which a world is torn asunder
and laid gently here to reform
into the daily life we choose again
to live in appreciation and grow within
each bringing newly discovered treasures
to this ragged wild unspoiled coast
where light coalesces into breath
exchanging the sweet intermingling
of all the rest of you and me
where thought falls away into the
eternal swell and sway of moments
stilled and hushed finally spent
in this way into a newborn sense
of an entire universe a loving intention
and alluring invitation to dance
barefoot upon this soft sacred shore
built upon the timeless ebb and flow
of slow patient settling a few grains
each time the tide rises turns reverses
always new this way until today
when discovered on a perfect sparkling
sun warmed day a blanket freshly swept
to our feet where ocean tang glows
upon the silent tongue that receives its blessing
becomes iridescent within our mind &
rises into fiery dawn where we again unwind

©John Greenleaf-Maple – text and art 12/30/17