private audience

I laughed at something you said once

only the cottonwoods witnessed

my smile into silence

I made eye contact with their fluttering leaves

and we nodded in agreement

when I die those trees will still stand

and would be pleased to tell the joke

if someone only knew to ask

but these are the moments that cease 

and fade

and none but me and the cottonwoods

will ever know

the good pleasure

of that afternoon and your words in my head and

my smile on the wind and

the mirth of that private audience to

the joy you once gave me