He stands next to a chair
into this deep July thickness
his gaze aloof yet sweet,
posing in full despair

he wonders -
does my other half admit
in a surreal moment of heat
that this hummingbird-hour
soars above us as we eat?

I say nothing.
No words disclose my grief.
He stands there ever aging,
my heart so lavishly
caressing his retreat

into that simmering July heat.

                                           [Athens, 8.7.17]