of memory
forgotten me –
my touch is nearly gone
and voices
once were mine –
are softer still
than given to remember
a whisper no one heard
was gifted wing
one night
when in your arms

a name
I almost waited –
a lifetime more for this
past the point
where leaves were turning brown
salvation fears
a fleeting kiss
the taste of mountain streams –
held beneath the waters
of the night

forgiven now
of words unleashed –
hurt beyond the heal –
locks were changed
and poems
burned away
making room for wanting
flickers rush
the smoke –
verses cling and I have none
to keep

mystery defined
as luck –
nightbirds swim the deep
reliving every story
of desire –
swept as clouds
into the dark –
windows of the dawn
names are given
– one more chance
to leave

. . .