I must miss you again as the stars light my way
Through the loneliest paths of the night,
As my quest for your spirit at dusk of each day
Leaves me wistful, in mind of the plight
Of the heartsick explorer who brooks love’s delay
While his fantasies beg to take flight.
I am he. He who eyes through the lens of his mind
A relentless review of the past–
Like an invalid creature all kept and confined
To his hospital bed and his cast
With his dreams as his only companion…the kind
Whose intensity fades much too fast.
‘Tho the orb that illumes us who labor below
Offers warming relief in the main,
I have places inside where its heat does not go,
Places arid and barren and plain;
You must radiate heat to melt fast through my snow.
You must water my roots with your rain.
Yes, I move as I should and arrange my affairs
As society shows us we must…
And I’m clothed in the garb that civility wears
…That we’ve all been conditioned to trust…
But my fabric is threadbare and easily tears…
And it blows off my shoulders like dust.
I must miss you again as the stars disappear
In the earliest blush of the dawn,
Like the you of my dreams ever lingering near
For my yearnings to fasten upon…
Till I open my eyes on my pain and my fear
And discover my dream–and you–gone.