Full of spirit, footloose and fancy free,
we wandered within,
filled glasses, toasted fine friends
and I found my eyes fixed on Sunmi.

A meeting, which could have been
Otherwise awkward… unkempt even
Came sudden and succinct,
Calm and quiet to the heart,
Yet boundless and free,
Liberating as libation
Was she for me?

Uncontrolled, I ventured a word,
A tease,
A chide,
I grasped at communication
And without hesitation
Made a connection
Smiling with pride

By the next encounter
We had come a ways
Toward the gaze of glad meetings
Of glamorous ‘like’
Less keen than curious
But particular in the fancy of an idea

At third glance it was clear
That gaze had glazed over with
An unavoidable attraction
I sketched her face in mind
A length of neck
A smile bright
An outline of eyes
A velvet sky
And rounded the cheek into my theory
Of future impressions

The joy came quick
To take me, reeling
From an autumn burn,
to a heart-stopping feeling.

A race of mind,
appealing to the head and heart
for one to accept the leap
and welcome the wonder of love’s art.

• love’s art