Impressed by narrow chest behind me when
we exited the opera’s airy tier,
I hyper-noticed he was present then
and wondered if he angled to be near.
Of all the things we talked of with our food,
I recollect the strange tenacity
that underlay his words about the mood
that makes me dance, what music does to me…

The evening sparkled Saturday, the sky
a hemisphere of scoured navy air,
the leaf-wet streets reflecting vapor lights.
Within an arc of autumn, he and I
began to be impressed: as much aware
of nuances as teenagers or knights.