Things I Cannot Live Without

I cannot live without the ribbed ridges of the solid oak,

rough against my cheek as I wrap my arms around it in a hug.

Its solid elegance stands stolidly against the elements,

a parent, grandparent, so there, aware,

that I would never need another.

I cannot live without the sun,

as it filters thru the fragility of the last golden leaves

rustling in the breeze.

It touches my shoulder, grazing my cheek with the softness

of the most tender lover.

I cannot live without the real

stories of folks, heart broken & direct,

authentic in their raw simplicity,

or without the softness of the love they contain.

I cannot live without the awareness of those departed,

who march through walls to visit me,

reminding me, reprimanding me by their platinum presence,

that love is eternal,

that they indeed will love me forever.

This is the wisdom of forever I share

with my grand babe, when our eyes connect

and we smile with a complicit tacit joke,

that this moment is too precious to be spent,

that it, too, will last forever.