Wander my thoughts to a mountain stream
so crisp and pure its whisperings
are prayers
and dappled flecks of light
glisten the ripples to glinting eyes
blinking bright.
gazing down
my wandering
floats me upon a travelling
leaf fleeing its tree
to experience life at sea
and I with my bond of fantasy
steer the vessel through tributaries union and confluence widening
into river's run
traversing bends and rapid rush
then lull before the gaping swell
of oceans welcoming gulp.
and swallowed
my wandering cast me free
while the leaf continues out to sea
on wave and surf's gallop
to return to watery core
where mermaids dream of dry land's shore.
There the Queen of them all
found a treasure so pure
a small leaf forever in a her crown she wore.

Her side of the bed's
warm as a hug
she just left for work
closing the door like a book
I'll later pick up
and lose myself in
in the pages of her return.
For our lives are written
one little word at a time,
line by line,
chapter after chapter.

Beneath the overhang of tension
we hesitate,
wait
for words to settle,
be withdrawn,
or apologies offered.
Curses spoken in haste provoke an impulsive, immediate reaction,
an equal cutting response.
We've lived and suffered the consequences before.
Allowed actions as instinctive as lust to run raw.
And we've been subjected to it's prideful display.
Guilty as a drunk's song waking dogs in the wee hours
and as certain as sure
we were right
all along.

A timble of breath
spills with her "yes"
eyes respond honestly
yet
edged with a trickle of nervousness
as her fingers trace
contours of flesh
along forearm and bicep then leap to cup
nape of neck
and lure tentative steps between distance of our lips. And lids close out the rest
as the kiss inhales a timble of my breath