Human Love

by Kifah Abdulla

In the city of Portland
The light was robust
In the window of the small space.
The nectarine wall
Radiating heat
The clock on the wall
Like the heart
Pulsing a beat
A picture of a white cat
Roaming in feline society
I was telling a tale of memory.
A woman was listening to me
With devotion, a queen of dreams
Her smile is a poem
And a melody
A song of hope
Light and its shadow color the matter
Behind and before her.
The crimson chair.
The carpet, the color of blue air.
A shadowy plant dreams of water
Her purse is on the floor
Scatter across her table, paper
And a lamp stands beside her
I sat before her
Surrounding by pure white walls
And a painting of a rose
The light and its shadow darting
To capture everything
Contending over even her eyes
I was telling my story
A woman was listening to me
Her possessions listened alongside
Even her coat, black and hanging on the wall
Was for me, listening.
Our differences and similarities unit
In the substance of the room.
Our souls and our bodies know
Human love, and hearts deepen
The butterfly of light colors our lives.
There was a gleam of hope in her eyes
Sparking to my eye, like a lighthouse.
At the last moment
As my boat was sinking
In the sea of my psyche
Her hand pulled me, smoothly, into port
The harbor of life
There in the city of Portland
Is a woman, who I called the ship of salvation.