July 1

It is pleasant in the shade

You sit across from me
absorbed in a novel
while I chisel away at a poem

However, I stop to watch you read,
the book laying flat on the glass table
as you lean forward, head slightly bowed

eyes fixed on the page.
Our cat, Smoky, creeps under my chair
to cheat the afternoon sun

that draws a shadow over half the yard.
Smoky stretches/yawns/brushes his head
against my leg.

Now you lean back in your chair,
oblivious to my stare,
just as I am oblivious to my poem

A restless breeze rankles the trees,
prompting impatiens to dance in the sunlight,
proving without a doubt
It is pleasant in the shade