Brief Encounters

I have held you in hand numerous times before,
Then put you down, departed; but now, I have returned,
And, to my surprise, you are still waiting for me,
Still puzzling me, eluding me, enticing me.

But today is your birthday, and with a birthday wish,
     and—if you permit—a kiss, I hold you once again,
If only for this brief encounter, guessing at your secret,
Which you hint with a smile, until I know it is time, again,
For me to leave. (How many leaves, now,
     have there been?)



( To Walt Whitman [Re: Whoever You Are Holding Me Now In Hand] on his birthday )