Ann Cefola
Turning right, Route 22, in the night sky a jeweled jet arcing left.
On the radio: When a man loves a woman.
You and I married 22 years.
Some scientists say
time
does not exist,
only human aging,
crisp leaves releasing,
ringing of
chimes.
This thing we invented—
walking Champs-Élysées
house in Vermont
day we brought home the
dogs
What is it? Light traveling across a lifetime.
Sound waves.
Electricity.
We love looking back, even though
the Gods told Orpheus not to.
No big bang
but steady expansion back and forth from center to edge,
our entire cosmos humming
Percy Sledge.
Ann Cefola is the author of Sugaring (Dancing Girl Press) and the translation Hence this cradle (Seismicity Editions). A 2007 Witter Bynner Poetry Translation Residency recipient, she also received the 2001 Robert Penn Warren Award judged by John Ashbery. Ann works as a creative strategist with Jumpstart LLC (www.jumpstartnow.net).
Love the way the poem drifts in time like leaves falling. You have captured that mature love looking back with laughter and light…as always each word holds its own.