Spiced Tea

He held his breath as she descended
the western stair and the color he knew
she would pick had just peaked through the colonnade,
a slinky grey dress that fell so perfectly
about her hips and in the face of vibrants lips
at the dress's greyness that he forgot again to breathe

and again forgot to blink so stuck and struck dumb
until he found his voice and heard Wonderful Tonight in his ears
and she passed oiling fingers through his bearded cheeks
and kissed the chin as the sea washed through their eyes,
so strange and divine they rested there at the base
of the western stair loving both their lull and fray.