My Sunshine on Cloudy Days

by Ernie McCray

To feed my spirit
every now and then,
in moments,
nowadays,
I find myself,
singing “My Girl”
like I’m on stage
with the Temptations,
because “hey,”
like David Ruffin
and them,
I’ve got a woman who
makes me feel like
“I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day” too,

somebody who “when it’s cold outside,

makes me feel
“I’ve got the month of May” too,
somebody who
puts me in a
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah
Zip-a-dee-ay
attitude too:

Maria Ester.

My honey, my squeeze,
my bae, my boo,
my bright warming sun
on these days
of uncertainty
that make us sing the blues,
afraid to watch the news,
writhing in a powerful strain
of emotional pain
that has us swirling dizzily
in the boisterous winds
and howling rains
of a man-made hurricane

born out of lunacy…

But, lucky old me,
I get to weather
this storm
with a godsend,
my best friend,

a woman
who’s in|
with me
until the very end
although we move
to different beats
and tempos
and rhythms,

she being one
who takes on things
like a lovely hummingbird
going in every direction
at the same time
in the blinking of an eye,
me being one
who lets the game come to me
before I take off and fly,
like a red-tailed hawk,
soaring in the sky,
taking stock
of when to
do what it must do  –

But differences
need not be interferences
so, I catch up with her
when she slows down
and, of course, she’s already

raring to go
when I come around
and we just go with
love for each other
that has no bounds,
a love I feel
every time
she looks at me
like she’s pleased
at what she sees,
the same
“Hubba Hubba” and
“What you doing tonight?”
look I give her
whenever I please;
a love illustrated
in pinches and winks
and playful pokes
and inside jokes,
in how we cry about the same things,

and how we sometimes
laugh uncontrollably
at the silliest things,
just for the sake of it,

and mostly
how we, in our daily lives,
have kept our eyes on the prize:
a world that’s easy on the eyes.

Oh, it’s with pride
that I have an angel at my side
as I seek shelter
under the dark heavy clouds
hanging over our world today
and the more
the downpour
batters us
the more I appreciate
that
I’ve got sunshine
on these cloudy days.

I can’t help but say to myself:
“You’re a lucky man, Ernie McCray!”