Affetuoso

I jump when the door opens,
run down the stairs as you stride in,
to throw your blue fleece coat across the chair.
You sit and loosen laces in your shoes as I watch,
eyes filling with the grateful plaid
of your shirt, flannel, threadbare...
You speak, and I become a violin
my heart strings tremble: wooden chambers quiver,
in response to the echoes of your day;
the sirens and the children's screams,
bright treble, tremolo, and counterpoint,
the deep basso profundo of your moves to keep them safe.

Blood halts, my veins constrict and shiver
as you recount the moment when staccato shots rang out,
I kneel beside you, craving your embrace,
You take me in, your arms a feathered bow stroking my back,
the quiet, voiceless harmony of love.