buttefly love

 

I saw two butterflies chasing each other

when I walked back to work from lunch today. 

The flutter of early love, I supposed.

They sense April is here, and seem caught

in a rush of  affection, 

a ‘can’t get enough of each other’ attraction, 

in and out of bushes, 

round and round the treetops,

first approaching, then dancing away,

now together, at last, on a leaf,

delicately balanced,

each holding the other.

 

Is this love I wonder,

the almost but not quite there

kisses that brush the ears

that tease, invite, and

torment until release,

the act of love sealing love,

heedless of the sun, the rain –

the butterfly chase.

 

or is it in the everyday, 

the way you hold the cold compress to my arm

after my date with Moderna, 

and pay our bills on time every month,

the way you buy the best carrots and potatoes

at the wet market,

and check the routes on google map

for me, before I set out, 

the way you wake up in the middle of the night

in a thunderstorm, 

to close all the windows?.

Yours is a love to hold us together

from April through to March

and then again, 

one that lasts even after

the imprint of butterfly kisses 

fade away.