Swallows & Other Lovers

Mario and I went walking after work. We met in-between home and the library. The day was crawling to dusk. We grinned as we caught sight of each other. We waved and hurried toward one another.

The clouds above were shapes and colors I don't know how to describe. It was as if each of them was some kind of sky creature. And of course they were. One cloud seemed to twist a bit as it moved overhead. It was the color of coriander with a sprinkle of gray. Coming up behind it was a giant of a cloud, buffed up and out and bluish. What is that color of blue? Like the blue of swallows, almost like night yet more ethereal if ethereal meant strong and powerful and so beautiful it makes your knees shake.

We stood in the middle of the street, our mouths agape, looking up. Before us was the county jail. Behind us was the wall of holly shielding the elementary school from the jail. Above was beauty. Words failed me. I just thought, this I love.

We walked down to the river near the fairgrounds. We stood on the bridge and watched the swallows. They were careening above the water, doing somersaults in the air and skimming the roiling water, dark boomerang shapes against the white sky just above the gorge cliffs.

When we got home, it was nearly night. The poppies all over our lawn stood up straight, their orange leaves closed up like umbrellas at a resort. We walked up our steps carefully so that we would not to disturb the poppies hanging over the stairs.

Now it is night. Mario's about to go to sleep. I hear him moving upstairs. I think, this I love. I hear something tapping on the living room window and realize it's rain. The clouds have come down to Earth. I think I'll go outside and dance amongst the clouds for a bit before I go to sleep.

Do you suppose they've been waiting for me, whispering, this I love?