Navy Pier: A Poem

Original Poem

Does the sight

of a simple keychain

stir your heart?

Does the sweetness of ice cream

coat your tongue

softening the bittersweet of coffee?

Are memories awakening

of a sunset over storm colored currents,

the air softly stirring the sights til they blur?

Can you see them?

the two figures entwined as one?

Him and her, a matching set

There.

They are just there.

Just ahead.

They move among yachts and tourists

bobbing and gazing

around constructed barriers

The sight they seek

no less astounding for their effort

when they succeed

They pursue the sun’s last call

before it sinks into the softly sensed murmurs

of frigid waves

Rolling carefully until

they just lap at

the ice filled shallows

Her hands find their way inside his coat

head against his shoulder

His arms encircle her waist

He draws her safe against him

Yet this is but affection

Which cold cannot deny

Their bodies are pressed tight

For these few sacred moments

there is naught else

Him and her

Her hands

His arms

Until darkness encroaches

Propelling their first date onward

Is the memory clear?

And does it make you smile?

Your gaze turned inward

needing to be called twice

Before you can return to now?

Does the sight

of a simple key chain

stir your heart

as it does mine?

I can only wait and pray

that someday

I will see the answer in your eyes

and feel the joy of a secret smile

meant just for me

Can you see them, now, up ahead?

Two figures enjoined as one?

Hear how their steps echo

and converse into movement

A path, a direction

Their dream, their trust

Fingers entwined

they walk forward

Unafraid

Unrelenting

until they have been released

to a certain future

The curtain to the past, closing with finality