nashville

the city skyline on my left is so fierce

she catches my breath and i try not to hit the car in front of me

beautiful

mesmerized in the sunset reflected off her glass robed

skyscraping contours

i wonder if this is what it feels like

for a man to see a beautiful woman across the room

so distant – unapproachable –

but i am not a stranger to this city,

more like a man who glimpses

a gorgeous woman

who happen to be his wife

through a crowd

he too, must feel the ache

a strange awe

at how others must perceive

this woman

but he knows

what it is, to wander through her alleyways

he knows the smell of the breeze on her side streets

and where the sun hits the busy corners

how that feels on his skin

the sounds of the lunch crowd

dodging tourists in cowboy boots -

how kind and tender she can be

and on a stormy day, how cruel.