You swallow my soul when you look at me,
cast shadows on my silent dreams;
you weave a retreat out of my weft
by your very presence in my thoughts.
I hear your silence, that voile of unspoken word
as it winds a wrapping around my heart.
I reach out but cannot touch
those chiselled features before me.
The nakedness of my sorrow swells
in the rise and fall of my breast;
no river is greater than the tears I shed,
no storm more violent than my desire.
All night you have looked at me,
devoured my soul as I slept;
and now dawn awakes my eyes,
my memory of you remains.
© Annie McLean 23.02.01
