Spring Tans

Sea gulls above
And beneath, green fields growing,
The sun in the sky
Just wouldn’t stop glowing.

It warmed up my skin,
Your smile warmed my heart,
And all of that day
Was a day set apart.

It lives in my mind
As a day full of light,
A total whole day
Spent in each other’s sight.

A touching of eyes,
A touching of hands,
A laugh and a nod,
And summer’s first tans.

A glance down the meadow
That met yours returning.
My face in the sun
Matched my heart’s gentle burning.

And when the day ended
And you walked away,
I kept the tan,
But that, too, will not stay.

– From “Piper’s Song, A Book of Poems”