The Life-Changer
by Melanie Claire Blinn Eulberg

That year, that day
that afternoon
that first moment
my heart becomes
a whirling windsock
pulse thunder
Reverberating

Tall in your leather jacket
deftly mustachioed
sideburned, flat-capped
gliding to a stop
in your top-down MG
you step out
Irradiating

With X-ray clarity
I quick-scan myself
ragged belled jeans
scarfed unkempt hair
not a dab of makeup
very liberated
Self-berating

As you start upstairs
with your sister
I know I can’t run
feel myself blushing
nerve endings alert
nuzzled forward
Anticipating

Quail-wary
my eyes avert
smile quivering
mouth a dry
adobe roof as
we trade small talk
Gravitating

Then our first touch
barest wisp of
your fingertips
leaves a tingling
palm memory surprise
our future
Germinating

When you go
a place in my soul aches
I feed it my questions—
just one diary entry or a gift to explore
potential zenith or catastrophe
briefly flabbergasting or maybe love
Everlasting

Return to: