Held in the lamplight glow
of another’s attention
time slows…
space for a shared unfolding:
the creases, rucks and pleats
of story and experience,
passion and sorrow
carefully laid open.

In the cradle of this shared moment
we are free to wander and explore:
huddled close as we walk in step;
or running free after fresh vistas;
or simply sitting in easy company –
pondering together
and drinking in the view.

Scudding brightness pinpricks details
to be pointed at and revelled in.
Notions, like skylarks, twist and turn;
cloud-pictures drifting
and shifting,
to crystallize when they are named.

And afterwards,
the joy of sacrament:
the recognition of new knowings…
and the sense that we have been seen
and heard
and cherished –
and that together, we have grown.