"Morning Beautiful" by Michael Chin

She was still asleep
when I woke up next to her.
Tried to puzzle out a way
to tell her how she looked-
to make her believe
what I got to see
when she was resting there.
Fell asleep thinking, though.
She was already up
when I opened my eyes.
The moment was gone
and I let the words slip away.

Passed a hopscotch
on the way to work.
Thought about
skipping through it
but let my dignity get in the way.
Let that happen everyday
until rain washed the chalk away.
Got me thinking
about all the opportunities
I've seen pass me on the left
while I coasted along.
Saw a bumper sticker
back of an SUV
telling me I should
FEAR GOD.
Thought it was talking
'bout fire and brimstone

but then wondered
if it was something else.
I've heard God gave me free will
but maybe I should be afraid

'cause if I don't choose
soon enough
God's gonna take my choice away.

And I saw her again
looking beautiful
as she did that morning,
but I still couldn't find my way
through this jumble of words like
You look good today
or You've been on my mind
like Please don't go
like I love you.
Decided to let a flower
do the talking for me.
She smiled
we kissed
I was still lost.
Wondered if one day
a ring would do the same job
or what I'd do after that-
if she'd see though
all the tokens and clichés
finally understand
I'd never have enough.

But just that night
things changed.
Woke from sleep
to find her watching me--
eyes wide,
the way I'd look at her.
Hit me that all these words
I couldn't ever find for her
might escape her too.
That all these words
might hang in air
existing between us
always outside us
leaving these midnight touches
or dozen roses
to fill the blanks.

*

I find myself on a barren beach
resting my body in the sand.
The sun's just rising
reflecting off the waves.
A gust comes in
and I watch windswept hair dance
across her sleeping form.
Reign it all in between my fingers.
Have a strange sensation
somewhere between awake and asleep.

Realize this whole beach
might be a dream.
But in these dreams begin realities--
in the secret sounds stirring
from parted lips,
defying language.
And I know whether I wake in the sand
or half a world from here
one truth will remain.
Her.
My morning beautiful
sleeping beside me.