Like a door, opening

Finding his yellowing love notes takes me back to a time before he set sail for "strange and distant countries" / New Jersey

When I take your hand
It is like a door, opening . . .

A garden . . .
A road leading out through a
     Mediterranean landscape . . .

Finally: a smell of salt,
the port,
A ship leaving for strange and
     distant countries.

~ "Sometimes" by Thomas McGrath