Two Poems

Larry Vogt

The jukebox played, we drank chocolate malts. 

A day later, there were love letters in the sand.

But today, the relief from the cold is sensual.

The sky is so blue you want to write love songs.

Weeks ago the wind blew snow through the cracks.

On a day like today, we sowed zinnia seeds.

Later, you cut them and arranged stems in a vase.

The colors were a riotous mix of orange and red.

We prepared a picnic of chicken salad,

fresh dark bread, leaves of lettuce,

also, dill pickles from my mother.

Let’s not forget the chocolate chip cookies.

We sat on the porch swing and laughed.

You listened to a song from my guitar.

There were tears of joy running down your cheek.

The words to the song were muddled in my mind.

With light fading, we walked into the living room.

When asked if you felt my love,

the answer was, always.

We cleaned up the kitchen.

On a day like today,

daffodils were in bloom.

Snow crocuses huddled in clusters.

Red tulips stood cloaked, eager to unfurl their passion.

Cover one side of the glass

with silver paint

Behold: a mirror

The window is smudged with dust

Vision through it is impaired

The old man cannot see clearly

The thin veil that clouds over what he sees

will not be moved aside

With much reluctance

he will eventually surrender

To what he can see

through his glass, darkly