Steam

A turn of smile, a passing glance,
Eternity in instants
Souls that merged when had their chance
Are never slaves to distance

Satisfaction wears a smile
And picks its teeth with ardor
A want that never finds its fill
Each day apart gets harder.

But days apart are just a dream
When nights together burning
Dissipate the days as steam
For fire stokes the yearning

Voyager, Be Still

Early on, ‘neath starlight with a blanket wrapped around,
We talked and cuddled softly in the night.
Making plans ensuring that our future would be sound
Taking time to look up toward the light.

“See how many stars there are that shine above your head?”
I asked you as I took your hand in mine.
“Those are all the chances we will have in years ahead,
Years to let our growing love to shine.”

Then I watched a wry smile curve the corner of your lips,
Gazed into your eyes as my pulse worried.
Reaching out, you took my chin with tender fingertips;
Told me that our love need not be hurried:

“Ah, my love, though there’s not time to do all that we’ll wish,
As long as I’m with you the world is ours.
Heaven sent this sky tonight so I could see with bliss—
So don’t ask for the moon. We have the stars.”

--“Don't let's ask for the moon. We have the stars." –Bette Davis, Now Voyager

Blue and Green

My life streams in colors seldom seen
From red to violet,
In between--

You are my blue.

Your touch
White light to blind me
Your kiss
Amber to focus my eyes once more
Your laugh
Gold and silver streams to find me
Your eyes
So blue they shook my soul to the core.
Your embrace
Every color at once,
Separate
Clear
Revealing

We seize in white sheets and I see rainbows.

I used to run from rainbows.

I’ve always been green,
Weaving rapid 'round the rainbows.
Running from others' colored expectations
Hiding in the green
Gazing up at blue.

You’ve said it’s my eyes that pulled you in
“A sea of green,” if I remember right
And I do.

I remember everything blue.

I’ve always been green
Running from the red
From the violet
And all the colors in between
Thinking my heart was black from emptiness
They called me yellow

But I’ve always been green.

In all of my running from rainbows I almost missed you.

I almost missed my Blue.

Not Enough Time

Visions carried deep within me keep the world at bay
Echoes of your lifting laugh defend me
Remnants of your subtle scent distract me all the day
Conversations carried on pretending . . .

Every morning as you sleep
On you I lay kisses,
Hoping in your heart they’ll keep,
Love as deep as this is

Busy work to pass the time until the bell is rung
Halfway concentrating as I ponder
How the blessing happened that we met when we were young
Hoping that the nights would last much longer

How you linger in my thoughts
Senses steeped in silence
Smell you, taste you, soul distraught;
Separation’s violence

Every single chance I get I call to hear your voice
Speaking innuendo nonchalant
Laughing, joking, flirting, oh there never was a choice;
From the start ‘twas you my soul did want

As we tumble in the night
Cherished time together
See me glow from love’s own light
Hold me there forever.

Conflicting Schedules

I wait on tenterhooks

A candid appraisal
Of erstwhile wishes
Leaves me breathless,
Expecting the inevitable synchronicity

The vigor of a forgotten afternoon
Rushes in, basking in memory
And the warm flush
Caused by your whispers
Betrays my anticipation . . .

Ah, glorious happenstance!
What singular satisfaction I gather from
“Remember when we. . .”
Cannot compare
To times we’ve had
Or could have had

And will, my love.

Just say the word.

As always, I wait for you.

What Love Is

Softly glowing embers of last night’s fire
Casting subtle shadows on your face
Rustle as you stir them; my own desire
Holds me in this warm romantic place.

Watching you by firelight I hold a sigh
Tracing every ripple of your form
Turning round you catch me and hold my eye
Smiling, you return to keep me warm.

This is what love is, content in this place,
Where the sharing completely abounds,
Quickening breath when a part of your space,
In your arms only hearts making sounds.

This passion that scorches my very soul
Is an aching my heart won’t unlearn,
Let the tinder burn down until it’s coal;
Though the embers may wane, we still burn.

Hush

I know the words your eye conveys
Speak not! But show in other ways

I, too, am love--feel your essence
Clinging to me, lifting presence

And they know, too, guilty others
Watching, reading, would-be lovers

Separated, yet still I breathe
You from my shirt and underneath

This waiting galls; The knowing I,
Bereft of you, would sooner die

Your poet’s soul, warm, unbridled,
Far too long has withered, idled

Hush! The longing, waiting, is passed
Love me now, this year ‘til my last.

Him

As I grow older
I see who I was
I know what I am
Man is what he does

Alone for so long
A shadow in shell
Undulating, arbitrary,
Miserable hell.

Til he came along
A cowboy in a car
Vastly uncertain
And my future star

Kissing by red light
Hopeful for more
Truly not hoping to
Seem like a whore

Night into day
Then day into night
None else existed
All gone from sight

Life in the country
Horses and flowers
Loving and fighting
Years go like hours

Then futures to plan, you see,
Futures "in case"
Life seldom keeps to
So steady a pace

And Him
By my side
Haunted, gallant,
Brimming with pride

Loving and fighting
Years go like hours
Futures inviting
Horses and flowers.