Older leaves protect roots in cold weather when love comes late.
A yardstick needs a subtler measure when love comes late.
I’m trying to learn patience. These lessons never end.
We unearth forsaken treasure when love comes late.
I feel my engine start to ping and turn. The timing-belt’s
often slower than I’d rather when love comes late.
The sight of two grey-hairs kissing at a stop light gives
the next-over teen driver a seizure when love comes late.
Cole Porter’s “You can’t blame me for feeling amorous”
worms our ears together when love comes late.
How do I quantify providence? She decodes my name
into unplumbed pleasure when love comes late.
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Kim Roberts Meikle is the author of seven books of poems, most recently Q&A for the End of the World, a collaboration with Michael Gushue (WordTech Editions, 2025), and two guidebooks, including The District’s Departed: A Guidebook to DC Cemeteries (Rivanna Books, 2026). Meikle co-curates DC Pride Poem-a-Day each June, and co-directs the Pride Poetry Fellowship at the Arts Club of Washington.
