warm crayon images of past loves
have melted under searing scrutiny
of remembered details

vivid oil memories
cascade still in European cities
artistry thrives
through the new centuries
of prosaic replacement

born in carbonated bubble in the sea
will burst well below the surface

your morning greeting lingered all day
it hung in imagined air
have we moved beyond cliché
has fate now answered my fervent prayer
dare I dream a glimpse of care
or perhaps a love affair

with tremulous whisper
I reveal a most precious secret
a chasm of silence suddenly emerges
dumbfounding my confidence

my world is suddenly smaller
I quickly question my guard rails
did I go too far
misjudge a friend’s understanding

did I trust too much
open a wound best left alone
can I reform it into something more mundane
that my friend can safely absorb

I sound guilty of some obscure evil
but it’s long been festering
if my friend can’t accept and tolerate it
what will I do