On a Night When Nothing Happened

Ralph and I celebrated our 21st anniversary last week. Like most gay couples, we don’t have a “wedding anniversary” to look back on, so we measure our relationship from the night of our first date.

I wrote about that bitterly cold night in A Report from Winter. This year, to mark the occasion, I’ve written a poem as well. I hope you enjoy it.

On a Night When Nothing Happened

An onlooker would have seen two men on the sidewalk,
perhaps taking leave of one another,

the night so cold they kept their hands in their pockets,
the words they might have said turning to clouds of vapor,

the kiss they might have shared in that public spot
so unthinkable that even the stars were laughing.

Two men facing each other, that was all.
Yet here we are, twenty-one years later,
still facing each other, remembering that first goodnight.