a front porch tale

Summer Evening, Edward Hopper, 1947

a front porch tale

old wooden planks guard internal night
eyes beam, sparkling warm
under incandescent, luminous stars

crickets hum with lover-heart, beating wild
shifts feet, sweats, stumbles words,
he may fall through the ground

he buries fears, she trusts his eyes
they paint the floor white
hang lace curtains, veil of a new life

all stories are sung, as two become one
old planks creak the melody,
shift with beloved aging souls

laughter white-washes pain, tears seal cracks
they work, play, worship, love
step on familiar creaky spots of elbows and wood

But what can be common of love,
and of a front porch, when the nights are dark
and silent for so many unrequited loves?

the same stars sparkle, the same porch stands
where they rocked their babies
and still sing one another to sleep.

***

August 7, 2011. Submitting for Magpie Tales 77… a weekly writing prompt. Click the link to read other responses to the prompt or to add your own!