EMBARCADERO

For long minutes I stood beside you,
my whisper softening the air between us;
my thoughts moved in tandem with yours.
Together we dared the crossing—
toward the quiet berth
where provisions meet their shore.

It was a lucid evening,
one of those nights when lovers
sing their longing into the open dusk.
The song required no chords;
it rose of its own desire,
while the onlookers drifted with us
on the tide of “Lovers Moon”.

The moon, impertinent and knowing,
leaned over your shoulder.
Your perfume—anise-kissed—
stirred thirst along my tongue.

O maiden evening clouds,
do not cease your dance;
unveil without pretense
your overture of secrets, 
as the sea, serene and glasslike,
keeps its watch upon us.

Now, years gone by,
I still steep in your serenade.
I long to feel your feet upon mine again,
our bare calves brushing—
unguarded, unabashed, in love.

To hold one another
with nothing left concealed;
to let innocence
stop being our paralysis.

Tonight we will uncork the bottles,
for release draws near.
Together we press that little drift of sand
between our palms
and surrender ourselves
to the quiet of Embarcadero’s harbor.

Charlton G. Marcos