snapshots of you.

sizzling peppers, onions, milk from coconuts, carrots, peanut butter,

the Saturday evening curry you concocted with precision and care

walking hand in hand in Saugatuck, water lapping toes, the sun falling,

knowing if it could rise again, then so too could we

your post-work de-stressor: swiping your iPad, pausing to inform me

video games gift you with solutions to problems and spatial awareness

you, underneath a blanket, legs furiously bucking in the air,

fighting to make sparks light up the dark spaces

never giving up on a faith that gave up on you, never giving up on me

when i gave up on faith

the trip to the recycling center and how vehemently you defended earth,

how so much of what we use can be used again and again

your voice warbling in song, correct lyrics be damned

when you played the game of kiss-her-all-over-the-head-as-fast-as-i-can!

or hold-her-hand-then-kiss-the-top-of-her-hand-then-hold-again,

and i became giddy with sheer happiness

you, plodding forward inexorably in a place that perceived color of skin

rather than the pulsing, impassioned life underneath