The discoverers goodbye kiss

I wake John and Layla early
in the hopes I beat the sun.
I quickly garner bread and cheese
for change has already begun.

I place the table perfectly
in dawn's growing light.
I smile in its warmth,
As I plead for more night.

My hands work frantically
To place the perfect touch.
While little heads bob
In hands used to crutch.

I break faint smile at their exhaustion,
For a moment it frees me of my own.
Until remembrance is set into blossom,
That I’m losing a piece of my home.

He’s assured me that the trip
Will be no more than an 8 month sentence.
That he will return on a ship
Filled with silks and spices worth the penance.

But I would trade everything I have
and everything there is to gain.
So that he could stay here,
and in his loving arms I could remain.

So that I could wake with him every morning
and sleep with him every night.
So that we could laugh til we’re tired
and sleep til we’re alright.

Yet with that a familiar blossom,
the somber flooding of a mind
filled with understanding.
As a wishful whim plays simple possum.

As I break from my thought,
He hastily appears in the doorway.
I present foods fresh and hot
to which he states he’s late, and
must be on his way.

He kisses bobbing heads
And sends their tired eyes to bed.
Grabbing a piece of bread
He turned to me and said:

“No speaking of words
Nor spelling of letters.
Could ever truly encompass
the ways in which you make me better.

No amount of breath used to say
Nor action used to illustrate.
Could ever properly put on display
My love for you that grows every day.

When I sail eyeless into the dark,
You are the brightness that brings me sight.
When I walk aimlessly in an empty ark,
You fill every gap like stars in an endless night.

Without you, I’m truly lost at sea.
Without you, I wouldn’t dare to be.
With you my sight stays, for you are all I see.
With you my breath stays, for you are all I’ll ever need.”

As I cleared my eyes to meet his gaze,
I could do nothing as he walked away.
Drowning in silences solemn tune,
I couldn’t even muster “I love you”...

Fifty years to the date,
And I still think of him every day.
All the moments we could have shared,
And all the things I should have said.

But that love carries on to those I meet
Since him, I haven’t wasted the opportunity.
To help people remember they are cherished and loved
And cared for by loved ones who live up above.

And from my discoveries I urge you the same.
Savor the warmth of others while you still have their flame.
For you might wake tomorrow and realize that they,
Were a spark meant only for yesterday.