I have forgiven you although you didn’t ask.
I believe in your beauty
locked inside, shining on your face.
You carry pain and resentment,
you are the most blessed.
Your song endures from evening to morning.
You walk with grace through hostile valleys,
your loyalty to those you love is fierce.
You will be what I remember.
You didn’t want to share your world with me.
In the forests, I listened for the river’s sound,
water dripping on a rock, fish jumping.
I carry my own pain and resentment,
I gave you my last years.
It hurts less to behold your face
after my poems examined you with rigor,
a thread through arid boscage.
Fifty times I probed its color.
Despite your strength I believe your fragility.
I have forgiven you although you may not
give me what I hope for.
Let me see you one more time not in dreams,
in the date palm oasis in Brighton Beach,
eyes closed, your red shirt warm in the breeze.