Near the Sea

side by side they sit and

the wind slows down long

enough for their world

to be revisited                                      

a  waning moon slices twilight

into leaves

yellow leaves

                                    left on willow trees

will he recognize a touch as a touch of love?

she puts her hand on his

a white clenched fist

tied together under the chin

a flowered headscarf keeps her face together

she rakes up all the leaves

places them on heaps

at night

the tide carries the leaves

into the sea