We clasped hands and slipped away
with the horses down the lane
into the meadow. Red-winged blackbirds
held chorus in the cattails
where the cattle drank. The creek had a rush
to compliment the laugh of the mallard ducks
and the air was abuzz with dragonflies.

I remember your face freckled and petite
as we knelt to pick orchids and kissed.
We snipped bouquets to freshen our nest
cradled in limbs of an ancient tree; paradise
where we carved our names, sunbathed
bare-naked, satiated and carefree.
.

From HeartWood by Richard Rensberry, to be published December 2016 by QuickTurtle Books®