Pencil Sketch

Kitchen table piled with clutter
Loose thoughts, loose threads
One room merges with another
In our hearts, in our heads
Notebook to an empty page
Acid-free archival grade

Studios in Brooklyn and in Venice
LAX, JFK
Stories from our time in Paris
Dans le Cœur du Marais

Dreams that want to be set down
In charcoal, in graphite
I fill in the shapes but leave the edges white
Don't you worry, it's just a pencil sketch tonight

Scattered toys and steaming pots
See her crawling at last
Your fingers pressing on that spot
In the small of your back
Creases 'round your eyes and mouth
When you smile down

Flocks of geese in ribbons bending south
I shade in the night fall
The sound of you singing to her down the hall
But don't you worry, it's just a pencil sketch, that's all

You don't have to be part of this picture
Maybe someone else's face could fit here
I could take the nub of this eraser
Crumple paper, start anew
But not 'til you tell me to

Sunlight melting, river glints
Bodies framed in faded chairs
Lime and sugar, sprig of mint
Made the same for fifty years
An easy silence floating between our two mason jars
Oh, sometimes when you look at me
I can see that far

Then the colors blur, the lines smudge
I'll play it cool for now but time will be the judge
There's no hurry
It's just a pencil sketch of us