Contentment In Old Age Poem by Daniel Brick

It was Cloud Realm
my mind entered, effortlessly,
like breathing in pure
mountain air. My wife and I
glided into a deeper intimacy,
and we housed our happiness
in a simple middle-class home
nestled in a woods, a calm lake
half-circling the yard. That is
our "terra firma, " our domestic
peace, the place more than any other
that confers a sense of wholeness.
So when we embrace in the morning
kitchen, or the living room criss-
crossed with afternoon sun shafts,
in the bedroom or gazebo, we live
for moments as if this place is
down the block from Eden, or just
ahead of Paradise...

Deep in sleep, when my body loosens
and my arms flail in search another
warm body, I am not myself but some
other being, sui generis. But if I wake
suddenly and see her asleep beside me,
see the darkness hides absolutely nothing,
I slip back into sleep without a second
thought. And my released thoughts disperse
into the Cloud Realm in which my sleep
floats, and my Intellectual Life is transcended.
I become a pure spirit for the duration
of nightly repose... And deep, very deep
within, I hear my voice saying again and again:
"Thank you... Thank you... Thank you."