CIRCA 1922

Touching.

Almost but not
quite.

They lie together
exactly 6 centimetres apart

if one were to measure
such a distance

but a universe apart
in terms of the heart.

They have just made love
or rather - had ***.

Now he snores.
She is unable to sleep.

She stays awake to see
the dawn enter the tiny room

gild ordinary objects
with a sunlight so golden

even a comb, a brush
a chair

become as wondrous
as objects in a Pharaoh's tomb.

And only does sleep
finally takes her prisoner

standing on the threshold
of a dream

she sees some
future archaeologist

unearth the golden comb
brush...chair...

the thoughts in her
head

her feelings
behind glass

in some museum
of the mind

"Despair"
circa 1922.