He holds you on his arm
Like an expensive bracelet
He has been too self-conscious to wear til now
And is still uncertain of the purchase.
I watch you in that burning gold silk slip
From his arm, orbiting around you
Never daring to look directly
But a flash here, bursting laughter there
Like the sun through clouds; you are always fluttering
A moment from my fingertips.
So I give up; to the garden
To the edge of the wine-stained lips of evening;
And there you are, miraculous, perched
At the edge of the table,
Lighting a cigarette.
And I sit by you and you smile
With such warmth –
Ignoring my compliments on your dress like water
Blowing smoke in my face
Which makes me cough, and you laugh
For a moment I feel
The earth drop
A sea – Aegean – and the breeze
Sounding as if through feathers;
And as my hand traces a journey, ungainly avian
I am uncertain where it will land, and
It never does;
Instead it hits a candle
And the wax flies molten
And you stand and swear
Sink back behind cawing, flocking bodies
And I am suddenly just another figure
Falling into the sea
With drying wax spluttered like
An expensive mistake, or sea foam
On the collar of my shirt.
Image credit: Icarus Daedalus mythology / pixabay