Reprise for hope

"And he drew forth from her breath the stars." Leslie Marmo Silko in Ceremony

I summon a melody from memory,
fear I might not recapture it,
instead, find myself alone,
paralyzed, beached, salty,

unable to imagine you -- humming softly --
above me -- rocking.
Did we remain that way all night,
incoming tide an accompaniment

outlining us in brine, swirling in time to our duet
black on white sand,
shadows in motion?
We harmonized until dawn -- voices

finally gone, created a ceremony, reprise,
together brought hope alive.
It seemed so easy then --
to sing, to love, to breathe.

Timothy Pilgrim