Though I sit alone
on my couch at home,
I’m somehow also sitting
with Rachel and Julie
and it’s summer and
we’re laughing, laughing
until we tumble
into each other’s laps,
laughing as we collapse
into a puppy pile of giggles,
laughing because it feels
so good to laugh—
even now I laugh aloud
with no memory of why
we were laughing then,
but many years later,
it’s still contagious.
Sometimes we tumble
so wholly into the grace
of a moment
that it opens in us forever,
continuously blooms
and spreads its perfume
like night-blooming jasmine,
christens everything
with its fragrance,
even this empty room,
even this tired woman
now so surprisingly awake.

I blame the wine. Ha! Glad tidings from Washington state and wishing you well Rosemerry. Best, Bill
yes, surely the wine had something to do with it! though we tend to laugh a lot, a lot no matter what. dang i miss people in person. hugs to you to the west!
Hugs right back and hang in there! We still have tons to be grateful for this season.
I am overwhelmed with the poignant memory of mask free embraces. I need to remember some of these kind of times to stoke my internal furnace right about now.