Sometimes I Forget How Much I Love Her

She lounges by the pool in the shadow of the sun,
Reading a novel covered in palm trees.
She flicks up her sunglasses and turns
And smiles.
Sometimes I forget how much I enjoy her.

I lick the last spoonful of Phish Food
And she says, “No sugar for a week.”
I swallow and chuckle and nod.
The next day she brings home a chocolate crème stick
	To celebrate our dog’s birthday.
Sometimes I forget how much I like her.

We are sitting on the gray couch
Watching another rerun of Law and Order.
I snatch the remote to turn up the volume,
The channel changes and she erupts,
	“Give me that thing.”
Sometimes I forget how much I need her.

We’re on a three-hour drive home after
Visiting our learning-to-smile grandson
And dispensing advice to our saint of a son-in-law,
When she says, “You know, he is not you.”
Sometimes I forget how much I cherish her wisdom.

She is still asleep beside me
The morning light embracing her face.
At that moment she is more beautiful than 
Thirty-five years ago when we first intertwined.

Sometimes I forget…