In the heat of the afternoon sun
I notice the girl
Her raven hair set against the white of her dress
It is a perfect sight on this hot, still day.

She walks around the square and from where I sit I can watch her every step
Her face is smiling as she talks with her friends
But I see sadness behind her eyes

Later I see her sitting, looking out over the sea
She looks thoughtful as she watches the slowly moving waves
And the boats heading out to ply their trade

Long ago Helen caused an army to set sail
And today by that same shore
If she looked at me and saw inside  
I would fight a thousand wars for her

When I wake I think of you
Lying somewhere else
still asleep for some time to come.

I remember the times that when I woke
I felt your warmth next to me
how you pushed your body into me

You sensed me near and my arms
Enveloped you and held you close

I gave you safety
you gave me a place
that I didn’t feel alone

Walking down this busy street
Passing people I will never meet
I wonder how it got to this point
A time where I can have so much
And yet feel so alone

If I look back
Was it all my fault
That I am and have always been
On the the edge of everything I’ve seen

It started the day I was born
When that woman from whose body I was torn
Decided I wasn’t for her
And since that day I have wondered looking
for her again
In every woman I ever known
I have looked to be loved for that very first unconditional time

Perhaps in a way I am drawn to her because she too was cast aside by one who should have loved
in that echo I hear my own voice as well as hers
And in that two note chord there lies
the start of a song we both can sing

I’d like to stand hand in hand
In my local coffee shop
Whilst waiting for the man
To serve our favourite drinks

We could share a croissant or a piece of cake
And sit at a table by the window
to watch the people walking by.
Now and again we’d share a joke
about what we’ve just seen

We’d probably look at our phones
and you’d be always busy with something
that must be done right now

But that would be ok
because when we get home
we would become one again
as only lovers can.

Each day about this time
is a thing that must be done.
Though still dark or clean from morning sun
I need to sit and sip that expectant balm.

As it’s warm song becomes a part of me
I begin to rise from last nights realm
of four o’clock waking and restless dreams
and the wish for cooler sheets

I tried to give you up - I had too much
But each day you become my true friend once again
And as I wake with you and come alive
I swear my pledge to you

Take me to that place again,
where we walked until the moment when,
we stopped and rested by the sea
a private place, held just by you and me

In that place you built a tower of stone
and left it standing as though alone
A beacon that showed the way
to be the marker of that special day

Later we stood beneath the lighted trees
on a path laid out to please
We held each other in our arms
And viewed the bay and all its charms

In that place, that night
It felt that everything was right
and under those Dorset stars it felt as one
as though a great story had begun

In later days I thought back to that time
on ****** sands East of Lyme
and as we walked along that beach
I felt that all the world was in my reach

Now I wonder, was it just a dream
that I created as though to seem
a world I wanted, a world I looked to find,
as if some imagined state of mind

It is an early June night
The darkness has not long descended and soon the dawn will come round again

The air is calm and still
In this quietness I can hear the sounds of children and the talking  of passing couples

A soft breeze blows and it rattles the blind to play an inconsistent rhythm
Although it’s mild, it’s not as warm as other Junes from times before

And in this stillness I think of you
The feel of your skin
The sound of your voice
And the space where once you lay