Leslie E. Hoffman

Staying ahead of the darkness
I return to one of the moments
my life is measured by...

laying in the open bed
of your pick-up truck, snug
in sleeping bags, except
for our noses -- the scent

of sugar pine refined
by our campfire, its smoke
ascending precipitously
toward jagged silhouettes
of Sierra Nevada peaks
-- awaiting

satellite flybys
while you explain to me
Russia and the United States
navigate opposite orbits
tonight, both crossing
Scorpio´s full moon

... not knowing at the time, only
the persistent memory of you
would stay with me.