Ordinary Love Poem by Michael Burch

Indescribable—our love—and still we say
with eyes averted, turning out the light,
"I love you, " in the ordinary way

and tug the coverlet where once we lay,
all suntanned limbs entangled, shivering, white...
indescribably in love. Or so we say.

Your hair's blonde thicket's thinned and tangle-gray;
you turn your back; you murmur to the night,
"I love you, " in the ordinary way.

Beneath the sheets our hands and feet would stray...
to warm ourselves. We do not touch, despite
a love so indescribable. We say

we're older now, that "love" has had its day.
But that which love once countenanced, delight,
still makes you indescribable. I say,
"I love you, " in the ordinary way.