I remember we'd taken my white canoe
the inner hull of cherrywood
to Klamath Lake
it was in May
we paddled through the reeds
with yellow-headed blackbirds
in mating plumage
singing from their perches
on the reedtops
we had been courting for a year
and you'd been waiting
for the divorce to finally be settled
and I said
as we lay side by side
in the grass above the lake
It's time
and you knew what I meant
and the expression
on your face was unforgettable