Startled for a moment, when the feeling combined
all its elements into a single thought, a single warm,
reassuring thought, a single hot, unsettling thought.

Taken aback, taken back, words wound around him
as if time, past present & future, had manifested in
language read, familiar, yet unrecognized, mute.

Understood, acknowledged, that he felt before he
thought, he sang a soundless hallelujah, basked in
the feeling before assessing it with close-to-reason.

He read the words of the text a fourth & fifth time
to be sure that what written was intended, meant,
was delivered on purpose by two thumbs & a Send.

The soft light of a star he suggested, or a TV hung
on the wall opposite the sofa, a glow in the room
enveloped, bathed, submersed him in the long ago.

A ring light on the creche, the hand-carved creche,
all to be noticed outside the palm of his hand that
held the small bright screen, cradled a revelation.

Suddenly, after decades, after all the care & hurt,
after the heights & depths, he felt, he knew, he saw
& felt more strongly, her arms around him, again.

Again, he was back there in time & place, back with
a new perspective, back with a forgiveness gift for
both of them: his better self, her unblemished self.