And What If I Didn’t

hear the raindrops
cascading on the café’s
sloping metal roof,

watch shifting
constellations meander
in shrinking light,

study cloud formations
drifting east
without intent,

stare at snow-drizzled
mountain peaks
on a moonless night,

listen to Tchaikovsky
symphonies
holding you.

I want to hear
cathedral bells chime,
savor a winter sunset,

talk to the wind
in these moments
of intimacy,

linger briefly
before the years
overtake us.

Jim Brosnan’s publishing credits include Nameless Roads (Moon Pie Press, 2019), four chapbooks of poetry and over 500 poems, most recently appearing in the Aurorean, The Avocet, The Bridge, Eunoia Review (Singapore), Nine Muses Poetry (Wales), Strand (India), Voices of the Poppies anthology (UK) and forthcoming in the Scarlet Leaf Review (Canada). Jim has won numerous awards in the annual National Federation of State Poetry Societies competition. He is a full professor of English at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI.