Of Saints and Shadows

I extend my arm Reaching beyond where you should still be But you're not here I wonder, where have you gone My fingers curling in the soft cotton sheets They still hold your warmth, The perfume of your skin But fading into the chill night air And all too soon the sun is breaking the horizon Just as your warmth, like a trapped memory, breaks free to disappear into the ether

You ask me 'what do you want?' I turn into your body--warm and all I can think to ask is this favor Come over. Stay. Lie down next to me. You can't see underneath the words And it's what I want, of that I'm sure Today--anyway Save me I don't ask for it Instead I lie in darkness, waiting Listening to life outside my window

Stand toe to toe Ready to fight for the things we are He knows why she's here Thinks he understands Open wide Take what you can The hits are coming faster Don't stop till they're at your feet She watches him pace the room Thoughts flashing behind his eyes Memories, but not of her And she thinks He'll finally give her what she needs

Oh these winter nights With their firefly skies Lying beside you I breathe in the waiting sun And the weathered willows Found deep in the valley We silently watch Dancing in our northern winds Visions of summer kissed days Fuel the blazing and charred cedar The sweet scent of wood Mingling with the scent of your skin I breathe deeply Your arms weave around my shoulders Caressing rose tipped flesh Drawing designs As if you were chasing warm currents through the trees Oh these winter nights With their firefly skies We sleep in the arms of lovers Under the watching eyes of the old oaks

This time when you call out I’ll have an answer Something more to tell you Dreams disappear and still you cry out The taste of flesh This time Like every time before And for all time She licks a line across the valley of your shoulders Tracing the contours of your body Memorizing the pathway back This will always be Where we should be In returning to all things, we are Natural This time we will look past What is said To everything unspoken

Yesterday I looked out across this foreign city Faces that hint at recognition And names that demand recollection But it’s not what I see Wishing instead, for the place I once called home Long ago and half a millennium away I remember your dark eyes Looking into my soul Watch it spark And reading my best kept secrets I remember the touch Your body against mine The memory its own warmth against my heart Long ago and half a millennium away Tomorrow I will make it back to you Escape the towering walls of this city For soft earth and warm waters Maybe then we can be in the same place for once