Being in Love

By Chungmi Kim

Awakened from a dream, I curl up
and turn. The roses on the dresser
smile and your words bloom.
The red roses for Valentine's Day.

Like in a film
thoughts of you unfold
moment by moment.

I vaguely hear
the sound of your spoon scooping cereal
the water stream in the shower
the buzzing noise of your electric razor
like a singing of cicada.

Your footsteps in and out of the bedroom.
Your lips touching my cheek lightly.
And the sound of the door shutting.

In your light
I fall asleep again under the warm quilt
happily like a child.

Upon waking
on the kitchen counter I find a half
grapefruit carefully cut and sectioned.
Such a loving touch is a milestone
For my newly found happiness.

"Being in Love" by Chungmi Kim, from Glacier Lily. © Red Hen Press, 2004.

Comment: Not a very good poem, but it was exciting to see The Writer's Almanac send out a poem by a Korean American woman. I have to support my peeps. I do like the sentiment of the last stanza. His "gift" is touching. There is that point in falling in love when a small gesture like the preparation of a grapefruit means the world.