For Marissa (by way of reply to William Butler Yeats)

There came a day

None too close

To September

When the crows had

Reappeared in greater number

Around the bird feeder

And the humidity dropped

Sharply from the swift approach

Of a cold front

And you and I made love

In the afternoon

In the shallows

The particulars

Of which don’t happen

To matter that much  

But for the amazing

Way we both sensed

We were standing near

The very navel of the universe

As we attended to that most

Essential part of our daily routine

And the Lebanese mosaic

Swirled about beneath us

As did time itself

And we clutched each other

Knowing the center likely would
Hold a little bit longer with

The very strong force
Of our centripetal embrace