Poem: Pilgrimage

Photo by Andreea Popescu for Scopio

drawn by liquid chemistry
redolence of home
I made my way to you
like a salmon to natal streams

but did not find you

you, out of reach—a few blocks west
a mile north, fields brimming

July heat and amber as I drove
tear-bleary on that road
so alone

years later when I found you
we looked at each other like pilgrims
stumbling our peregrine way
past fresh graves—resigned

the lone wanderers

yet the throb-thrumming of hearts
drew us—awakened unaware

to desire
unlikely arrivals

we counted our seeds
planted greenhouses, fields fertile
with craving
flesh and blood enfolded—

the consummation of careful steps
at once overtaken to opulence

blushed abundance
tendrils of ardor
patterns of resilience and life
head-spinning
unstoppable

{Published in the May 2023 issue of Friends Journal}