Sun and Wind

When we sit together, and she is calm, I bask in the… togetherness.
I massage her hands gently, willing each finger to rouse. I press my lips to her cheek.
Like a strong fall wind, the kind of gust that rattles the leaves from the trees, her life will have been brief but powerful.
I take in the smell of freshly shampooed hair or of sticky grape medicine, depending on the time of day, wafting from her idle body.
Like Colby – lying by the window doing his best to soak up autumn sun, perhaps imagining if he absorbs enough now it will carry him through the winter – I do my best to soak up all of her, realizing it will never be enough to last me through the winter, a lifetime of winters.
But there will always be gusts and golden rays, there will always be glorious moments, so there will always be her.

JEB