Clasped pair of hands

They remained there for hours
while I was sipping coffee
and the evening slowly fell back
into the recliner of a summer night. 
Chairs were drawn and redrawn.
Orders hurried their way on wheels
and the bills were late but unforgettable.
They remained there 
while the electric hum of the night 
mixed with the mosquito buzz 
and the cowards rushed for cover. 

I too was there noting down
in the margins of the moment
a little blueprint for a poem, 
and later sailing it onto 
the sea of the unfinished 
hoping it would come back 
with more jest than before. 

They remained there 
even in the dead of the night. 
Even after a poem closed its shutters
and the dream patrol began. 
Her diamond ring sparkling 
and his finger exploring 
the map of her palms.