written in 1994 for bruce when we’d been together 15 years
the extremes
are what we will recall
when we look back
on all we’ve shared
the wild beauty witnessed
in odd corners of the globe
the fantasies come true
in cities of our dreams
magnificent meals
art that left us breathing hard
the ecstasy that’s possible
when two like minds
and bodies
coalesce
and the opposite extremes
friend after friend
brought to a sudden
or anguished
or gruesome end
feuds and unfairness
thieves and violence
loss of innocence
goods
lives
and sometimes hope
what we won’t recall
but in the end
what matters most
are the regular days
the morning rituals
of exercise and breakfast
the commute
the paper we pushed
over one desktop after another
off the edge
and into the wastebasket
only to have it reappear
like some apparition
from a horror film
popping back to life
no matter how dead it might have seemed
the dinners
mindless television
and falling asleep in a curl
no whirl of mad frivolity
no glimpse of the abyss
just the getting through
then returning home to you
a kiss
a drink
a quiet night
and if the fates should bless us
with the chance
to look back
on our dance
with tragedy and joy
as we sit by sea or fire
i hope that we’ll share dinner
and later on retire
at the end of yet another
uneventful day
made magnificently forgettable
together