October 25: "Genesis," Surgery, Crazy Numbering

It has been a long couple days. The kind of days that make you reevaluate your life--its priorities and joys. I've had a lot of time to just sit and think, which is a luxury.

Billy Collins takes some time to think, too . . . 

Genesis

by: Billy Collins

It was late, of course,
just the two of us still at the table
working on a second bottle of wine

when you speculated that maybe Eve came first
and Adam began as a rib
that leaped out of her side one paradisal afternoon.

Could be, I remember saying,
because much was possible back then,
and I mentioned the talking snake
and the giraffes sticking their necks out of the ark,
their noses up in the pouring Old Testament rain.

I like a man with a flexible mind, you said then,
lifting your candle-lit glass to me
and I raised mine to you and began to wonder

what life would be like as one of your ribs--
to be with you all the time,
riding under your blouse and skin,
caged under the soft weight of your breasts,

your favorite rib, I am assuming,
if you ever bothered to stop and count them

which is just what I did later that night
after you had fallen asleep
and we were fitted tightly back to front,
your long legs against the length of mine,
my fingers doing the crazy numbering that comes of love.

Yes, my wife had her surgery.  At 10 a.m., they rolled her into the OR.  An hour or so later, she was in recovery.  I sat in the waiting area, writing, reading, thinking about the crazy numbering that comes of love, as Collins says.

My wife and I have been together 34 years.

We have been married 29 years.

During our time together, I earned a BA, and Master's Degree, and an MFA, and my wife earned a BS, for a total of four college degrees.  (If you throw my daughter's BA into the mix, that's five.)

Five years after we got married, our daughter was born in the year 2000.

Eight years later, our son was born.

Almost five years ago, we got our puppy--a mini-Aussie who has become our third baby.

During the time we've been together, I have lost one brother, two sisters, my mother, and my father.

Also during the time we've been together, I served as U.P. Poet Laureate for two two-year terms.

I've published three books during our married life, the most recent just one month ago.

We've seen six different Presidents of the United States during our time together and lived through one global pandemic.

Tonight, my wife has one less organ in her body, and I still have the one and only person I've truly loved.

No matter how you do the math, Saint Marty has been infinitely blessed.