Achtung Bubba
Refugee
Winter, 1998.
She and I stood there,
In front of her dorm,
Talking about nothing,
In the the electric chill
Of an Alabama winter,
In the quiet shadows
Just before sunset.
A moment before, I ran into her,
A chance occurrence,
Like a rainbow on a cloudy day.
Forgetting whatever I was doing,
I turned on my heels,
And I walked her to her dorm.
I usually walk alone,
From whatever task I was doing
To whatever lies ahead.
But to walk beside someone,
To walk with her...
I still don't remember my legs moving,
And I still don't know how
I put one foot in front of the other.
I was probably not looking my best.
I was probably wearing glasses
And several days past a well-needed shave.
I was never prepared when I saw her.
But as we walked, she glanced to her left
And looked up into my eyes,
And how I looked no longer mattered.
A moment after, another girl showed up,
A girl who knew me from class.
I prayed she wouldn't notice me.
She did.
She said hi, and she brought up
A class project, or homework,
Or something else that didn't matter
In comparison to what she interrupted.
With that, my love said goodbye
And walked up the steps of her dorm.
My princess retired to her castle,
My angel ascended to her heaven.
But the moment in between...
As we stood there talking,
In the cold, in the dark,
We were the only two beings
In all of God's creation.
A breeze kicked up
And played with her hair,
Those gorgeous blonde strands
That frame the face
That to this day is etched
In the back of my eyelids,
An image I see
Every time I blink.
It pushed her hair around,
Teased it out of place
Into another perfect arrangement.
And for a moment,
Just one moment,
I thought in poetry:
"I envy the wind."
She and I stood there,
In front of her dorm,
Talking about nothing,
In the the electric chill
Of an Alabama winter,
In the quiet shadows
Just before sunset.
A moment before, I ran into her,
A chance occurrence,
Like a rainbow on a cloudy day.
Forgetting whatever I was doing,
I turned on my heels,
And I walked her to her dorm.
I usually walk alone,
From whatever task I was doing
To whatever lies ahead.
But to walk beside someone,
To walk with her...
I still don't remember my legs moving,
And I still don't know how
I put one foot in front of the other.
I was probably not looking my best.
I was probably wearing glasses
And several days past a well-needed shave.
I was never prepared when I saw her.
But as we walked, she glanced to her left
And looked up into my eyes,
And how I looked no longer mattered.
A moment after, another girl showed up,
A girl who knew me from class.
I prayed she wouldn't notice me.
She did.
She said hi, and she brought up
A class project, or homework,
Or something else that didn't matter
In comparison to what she interrupted.
With that, my love said goodbye
And walked up the steps of her dorm.
My princess retired to her castle,
My angel ascended to her heaven.
But the moment in between...
As we stood there talking,
In the cold, in the dark,
We were the only two beings
In all of God's creation.
A breeze kicked up
And played with her hair,
Those gorgeous blonde strands
That frame the face
That to this day is etched
In the back of my eyelids,
An image I see
Every time I blink.
It pushed her hair around,
Teased it out of place
Into another perfect arrangement.
And for a moment,
Just one moment,
I thought in poetry:
"I envy the wind."