Your hands
hold my face
with the care
and presence that no other could relay
if they tried
Stroking
to calm
Soft as the miel you live for
A bearpaw as strong and gentle
as any roaming the Chihuahuan mountains
of our home

With each beehive rustled
a solace more profound is born
Tranquil…deeper, than yesterday

You caught an earlier flight home today
because of how desperately I missed you

The safest harbor
melts to form
precisely
with the ease of an artist
who’s held his charcoal for a century…
and brings sustenance to the arid land
where we rest
Across deserts and foothills of chilled, serene dust
bathed in an atmosphere of pure indigo
beneath the tallest pine
made of evening silhouettes and birdsong
We rest
and I am held
like honey