Imperfect Life Full of Perfect Moments: Poem #4

POEM 4
By Lu Sobredo

INTRODUCTION
My thoughts have travelled far into the Leap Year. I started to write this poem on the night of February 29, 2020 and it greeted the first day of March.

My muse was relentless, it kept me writing for hours into the night and the next morning. I couldn't help but comply, as thoughts poured out like words imprisoned for eons, desperate to wake up from slumber.

Midnight in Barcelona, Spain. ©James Sobredo, 2016

Imperfect Life Full of Perfect Moments: Poem 4

Every now and then, I marvel

At earth’s elliptical revolutions around the sun,

And at how many there had been

Since first we met.

The passage of time chronicled

Early on in cards and letters we exchanged.

Ah, those precious letters,

They were kisses disguised as quiet conversations

In our hearts. I imagined them as having been written

Under the light of the moon

While at its perfect angular distance from the sun.  

Words and passages I’ve read out loud,

Eagerly leapt from the pages to the tongue, quenching thirst

When you weren’t around.

Those letters, as I read them now,

They are not typical of love letters.

Why then, would those words draw images

That take my breath away

Now, as they did then,

Decades before?

Is it possible to look back over the span of years?    

Perhaps to count how many sunrises

Felt like a warm embrace.

We hungered for more,

More of everything. More, out of life.

And when life takes too sharp of a turn

Throwing one of us or both sadly askew,

Dreams once brightly paved are dimmed.

The abrupt jolt makes for a cruel journey.

It hurts like cut glass shattering resolve. It pierces

The heart and threatens to break open the ground we walk on.

Wound so wide and deep, what could possibly mend it?

How many of life’s storms could love withstand?

One hopes never to find out, nor reach that breaking point.

A break, oh so permanent, it betrays

The promise of growing old together.

When doubts thrust into the soul like uncontrollable deluge,

All one could do is keep both hands pressed

Ever so tightly against the chest

To guard hope from spilling out and emptying the soul.

How could anything console

When doubts greet at the door and I can’t breathe?   

Because I can’t breathe without you.

Every now and then, I marvel

At the resiliency of the human soul. For when life’s

Darkest hours visit like an unwelcome guest,

You are with me.

And I am comforted by the warmth

Of a hand holding mine. While healing, we would feast

On sunsets and sparkling wine;

On seafood, jazz and gelato.

Is it possible to still dance under the stars

When age and affliction are unwilling enablers?     

Because I still desire movement.

Because long adventure rides still await you.

And I still fantasize

Impersonating a Mark Morris dancer.

Or at the very least, dance

As we did the day we wed.

Every day, I remember to forgive the wrong turns;

Even cherish the risks, reactions, and tough decisions made.

I am poised for many more tomorrows,

More sunrises and sunsets,

Slow dances, Chris Botti concerts

And walks on the beach when the moon is

At its perfect angular distance from the sun.

Every day, I give myself permission

To dig into our memory chest

Of the imperfect life we’ve lived so far,

So full of many perfect moments.

Humbled by it all.

Humbled by a universe that offers bountiful gifts,

Yet miserly takes like a thief.

Then, generously ignites courage to trust love.

That same brand of love has taken us

Through the Alps in Northern Italy,

To a stretch of the Pyrenees,

And the sands of Playa de La Concha

In San Sebastian, Spain where our hearts are at home.

Our imperfect life full of perfect moments.

Poem ©Lu Sobredo

Photo ©James Sobredo
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

About the Author 
Lu Sobredo is writer/publisher at Lu Travels Abroad, a blog dedicated to folks whose limitations do not hamper them from traveling. A year into early retirement her world collapsed from the diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). Her total life changed, but she did not let RA define her. With love from family, friends and an awesome doctor, she regained some functionality--her new normal. She will have RA all her life. And she now writes about life and travel with RA. During the pandemic of 2020, she stays put and writes poetry and a first novel, a travel of sorts but in the heart and mind.