The resounding silence of the crashing waves
on distant shores reverberates within my head
as one heart beats in an elaborate tempo
free from the sweet entanglements of a duet.
I find myself mired in the stagnant pools of promises
never kept, dreams never shared as they lap against
eyes that would never see.
Still the waters rise, ebbing and flowing as I cast
my gaze inward, away from hard knowing eyes
that would see my denial, wrapped about me like
a shroud of truth, truth as I know it, as I wish it to be,
and pull me kicking and screaming out of
the harsh glare of self pity.
Each shred of cloth that binds me only serves to
accentuate just how far from hope I've come
and how very far I need to go before feeling
the warmth of a new lover's touch.

August 17, 1999