I drove through the softly falling snow to reach you, my love
After a day so long and fraught with questions
With students begging for all of my attention
The grades are due and the classes are changing
The lessons are planned and the faces are new
I go through the routine, but I think of more and more of you
The bells ring and the shift continues
There are papers to be corrected and essays to be read
Authors to email and someone stole my stapler . . . again
I breathe deeply at the last tone of the bell
I smile and tell my kids, “to stay out of trouble”
Alone at last, your face enters my mind
Eyes that hypnotize and lips that seduce
I shake my head and regain my focus
Pack up my laptop and grab my coat
The gently falling snow greets me as I exit the front door
I clean off the car and begin the drive home
Stopping once to pick up our sons and then off again
Dennis and Willie tell me all about their day
And, of course, laugh and argue along the way
Once home, supper is the most important thing
The boys are ALWAYS starving
The dishes are next followed directly by homework
And then the chore of getting the kids into bed
“I’m thirsty.” “Just one more story, Mom.”
Finally the lights in their bedrooms are extinguished
The television is off and the fire is blazing
The rocking chair by the fireplace beckons me
You open your arms as I walk into the room
Entreating me into the warmth of your being
Cradled in your arms I’m rocked so gently
Your hand lays my head on your shoulder
And your breath caresses my ear
You stroke my hair as your kisses reach my cheeks
My eyelids are heavy and I sigh in your arms
“Inte Hayatti.” The words are like within a dream
And “Behebeck.” is the last word I hear before I drift off to sleep