As We Wait

pink roses hang heavy in the undulating heat a partial arch over the laneway gentle sway midst the silver dust a youth with his pug dog pauses half in shadow beneath the flowery portal the air lit by scent from a hidden inside the dog restless pulls at its leash like harbored want wing-like, the boy lifts the dog to better sniff delightedly, blooms in the soft swell of summer unfazed wonderment caught in the dog's wagging tail cheerful in this limited space before what a lad hopes to remember is shadowed by age before what bridges gaps gets undone an unpredictable moment a chemistry when we outreach ourselves in a patchwork of senses to know an airborne longing in the pathways behind us