that the big thing that’s slithering
just under the surface is not
there slithering,

that thing we don’t want to talk about,
perhaps a slimy, annoying, upsetting,
creep-you-out thing,

has disappeared, kaput, poof! so that
all that’s left is you looking at me,
me looking at you,

nothing between us but air and
a couple of smiles—yours, mine—
and that thing and all the other

things of the world that keep
stirring inside us, wishing we could
do something to make those things

go away or someone feel better,
what we can do is, just for now, is
focus on each other, you gazing

into my eyes, me looking into yours,
and take these smiles to heart, tuck
’em in tight for safekeeping,

and let your lungs inhale deeply
and let that breath ooze into the air,
and let’s just say to each other,

Wow. You. There.

And marvel in you, in me, in this
moment we share, which will,
naturally, poof away as all stunning

moments do, but will also, as your
smile embeds in me and mine
sinks deeply into you,

morph into memory, so that
all that’s left, when we think
about it later—so much later—

is the love.