when I kiss your ear while you sleep

you stir and snuggle closer...

then my heart aches

remembering all the angers that sometimes mar our union

remembering all the joys that build and strengthen that union

and how nothing we can do for each other helps the pain of living

and how nothing saves us from our definitive reckonings

then I ache and hold you tighter

all we have is the moment we are in

and all such moments form the content of our love

these moments may last 'always' somewhere in creation

but here in our precarious lives in the earth

we live them fully as they pass

and that is our 'always'

and that is why I will hold you close

there is no life or love without you

Content (c) 2008-2011 Philip Milito.