On the Tail End of a Winter’s Night by Dionne Luna Tenhue

On the tail end of a winter’s night,
my soul met yours
Danced a duet
neither of us knew the steps to
Yet we swayed in tune
DC streetlight
turned spotlight for our solos
as we swapped stories about
the stars from which we came
And the scars hidden from plain sight
How bright a beacon
our attentiveness
How comfort of home
our care
Now entrusted
to protect every timeline
that led us here
We felt stronger having shared
our weaknesses
Held tightly the pearl pulled from our hearts
That night…
with a DC streetlight
our only witness,
we wrote our names with stardust that had collected on our wings
As I sketched mine on the palm of your heart,
you laughed
Said it’s been so long since someone touched you there
I agreed
‘Twas funny a feeling
to be seen,
heard,
found like pearl
To find friend
Twin flame
who lights the spark
Illuminates your darkened places
Faces your demons with you
Slays one or two for good faith
as if to say
they’d slay a dozen more
if it helped to usher in peace
Helped our inner child sleep
on nights when mind rages war
And heart traces circumference of every single wound
What are the odds of our meeting
How long has the universe been orchestrating this pairing
This sharing of same flame
This lighting of like heart
Maybe that streetlight had special powers
Maybe we do
Maybe we forgot just how magical we can be
or how much stardust was actually captured in our wings
Perhaps we forgot what flight feels like
Thought the dust in our wings the culprit
for staying grounded
But it was on the ground we met
Both flightless
Full of stardust and hope
Learning to fly again
On the tail end of a winter’s night  

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