Map Light

I know.
It’s an impossible light.
At best a Johnny Cash burnin’ ring of fiah.

But then you were not there.
With the tripod set to capture the reference
and the sketchbook to record the reverence
at the end of a long Vineyard day.

After having spent hours watching the dear ones kayaking in the great pond
while the big dog Gulliver kept guard over the mooring.

‘Nor were you there when the pots and pans, strewn about the kitchen
in the wake of the meal of mussels and quahogs and Pennsylvania apple crisp,
were piled into the old porcelain sink to soak.

Or there for the gathering around the Island map
to plan out the next day’s hike to infinity and beyond.

Ah,
but maybe you were there after all.
And stuck around for the evening game of Gin Rummy
which was made all the better for the last of the red wine
and the candlelight
and the reflection of the sunset
on the Queen of Hearts.