Japanese Dream Recollection

You come in from the yard, your hands
Brown with the dirt from pulled carrots,
Your hair smelling of wind and pond water,
Your shoes clunked with mud and old grass

You wash up the carrots and sit by the
Fire for a while, warming your hands
And face, then go to the sink for some
Cups and the coffee dripper. You don’t
Even have to ask. You drip two cups just
Right, one hotter than the other, pour in
The cream, some honey, and gather up papers
And a book to join me on the floor by the big
Window. We drink in silence .My smile

Is thank you enough. Dinner will come later,
After music and story time. The children are
Grown now, and gone, so there’s no one for
sunset but us. Even the cat finds other
Things to do in the warmth of late afternoon
Sun by a tree stump in the yard where azaleas
Bloom and the apple tree holds its leaves close
To the branch

by Anne Tibbitts

Email: annetibbitts@usa.net