through all the interims,
the befores,
and afters,
and in-betweens,
I fill my heart with thoughts of you,
like arrangements of flowers
decorating the long stretches of
waiting spaces.
Bursts of roses and many-petaled tulips,
fragrant lilies and soft sage,
crisp pine and purpled mint,
creamy jasmine and sunrays of forsythia,
the silk of wisteria
floating overhead like dreams
from the arching trellis of my
longing.

softly,
as the moonflower unwinds on a silvery night,
forgiveness opens.

glancingly,
it was given,
the most hurtful words you’ve ever heard.

unexpectedly,
from a hidden chrysalis,
emerges a golden butterfly.