"to gaze into the distance..."

every year there is a new spoon to ponder
the perfect balance of slender neck, heavy handle 
and weighted bowl sitting on the fulcrum
of a day when thunderclouds...black and
lowering...seep across the sky like spilled ink
and we dodge into a musty shop avoiding
a downpour we know will eventually wash red
dust off the pediments and lazy stone griffons
that hold watch over a sleepy Colorado town...

later I will stare across the space between here
and there....an endless yawn of sunflowers and
stone posts scattered through the prairie and i
will imagine our laughter, ourwhispered secrets, and
the shared dreams of a couple of little old ladies that we will
someday be.  i will balance this spoon on my forefinger
and wonder if the William Penn Hotel knew its
silverware would keep a woman company long after
the aspens have turned to gold and Independence Pass
is closed for yet another winter....

I will sip my tea and see beyond the edge of the world
to where she sits in a valley of rivers and horses and
summers filled with her company...I will gaze into the
distance and imagine a stolen afternoon, this spoon, and
the elegant grace of her friendship...it will be a good
reminder, this spoon that carries the name of an old stranger...