When the threads were bronze
That kept me seperate
But before they turned to black
That would divide me even more
I met her in a grocery check out line
By what we mortals call chance.

If it was God or Devil that made the meeting
Only life beyond the grave can proof
But how strange that one so briefly met
Could cut and deeply
This ever striving soul.

Lean and forward and beautiful
She knew chaos when she saw it
And dispatched two pennies
To my rescue.

I wish I had said thank you
On the spot and invited her
To lunch or coffee or whatever
Was to be with so little introduction.

But I was fearful of her beauty
And an intensity of yearning
More powerful than sex
Her simple act of care had sparked.

Spark to dry tinder a fire makes
And months later I wonder at my cowardice
That hid behind stories of Will Stretch
And the gal he married who had turned down
A matrimonial proposal from
'Chesty' Puller a legendary marine.

A ring on my finger
And a ring on hers
These things attraction could not erase.
And hierarchy has its' morbid logic
But still in moments of dry marriage
I think about her
And feel the pull of two pennies
That may have carried more
Than clerks balancing their cents.

Bill Grace

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/marine-corps-dog-lady/