Toasting Solitude Poem by Philip Baker

Midnight comes so quickly and quietly
Ah, the bewitching hour
The only sound in here is the oscillation of the pedestal fan
And the gentle rustle as a warm westerly wind blows through the pandanus palms out front
I celebrate the coming of our tenth year together
With chocolate ice-cream, amorelli biscuits and sultanas
As day two of my sobriety passes into history along with our anniversary
A hollow party for such an auspicious occasion
While you work the night shift of bums and plates and god knows what else
Only our solitude to toast each other with
Today should have been our perfect day
But that will have to wait.
Not that I mind
For when I wake up you will soon be here
And when you wake you can join me
And if today wasn’t perfect it was still better than it could have been
And when we celebrate together the waiting will have been worthwhile
Now the silence is broken by a car passing through the gates
And the wind again stirring the leaves to attention
The fan pushes cool air against the shirt clinging to my back
And a gecko cheeps out his plaintive song of indifference
It seems shallow to complain of a night lost to necessity
When we make our own time; our own lives
And if nobody wants to share this moment with us
Whenever we get to share it together
That will not detract from the magic that is
You and I together, with our daughter beside us
In this world of magic that we have created
In the world of wonder that is right here
So let the gecko and the curlew, the lorikeet and the cane toad
Play out our symphony
For it’s an imperfect day
But I’m glad I spent a part of it with you
It’s always a perfect day
When your love keeps me hanging on
And I will sleep tonight with a smile on my face
To wake tomorrow to a new day, in our tenth year
Happier than ever, regardless of what comes my way.

17th March 2010