Moon Over the Ninth Night

(from the moon series - Camino de Santiago edition)

This was the hardest day by far. Forget the hills
and the climbs. Forget the forty kilometer days
and the days of rain. Forget the days alone
and the days without water. This

was the hardest day. And the whole time
I kept dreaming of you. The whole time
I kept thinking of your face and how you laugh.
The whole time I would have given anything

to just be laying in bed with you with my arms
tight around you, with you taking care of me
in the soft way that you do. The whole time.
But I had to walk. There was no other option.

I had to push on further and further until
I arrived and even then I wished to be with you.
Even then in the shadow of the hot Spanish afternoon
sitting in front of a Galician farm house.