WHEN YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL


Auburn hair shimmers in the sun
Lighting a vainglorious fire for you
Under my ribs, a place long cold
I long to touch you

I want to lean into you
And taste the wine on your soft lips
Yet I dare not touch you

You are there, I see you
But you are far gone,
Into the darkness seeping from the cracks in your mind
And I cannot touch you

I long, my dear, to shelter you
In my arms, to hold you
Until you return to this world of light,
Of life, glorious love of the dawn
But you will not let me touch you

Your eyes are hollow, and I see
You know what you are to me
Yet you turn away and
I can never touch you

So I put that fire, that heady spin of love
Into a box, mahogany like your hair,
And I seal it away, under the third rib,
To hide beneath my heart, pulsing in time with it (useless organ)
So that I might touch you

And now we spend our time,
Safe in the assurance of control,
Walking together through the days,
Running from the shadows into the daylight

Except for those moments when you are so beautiful
You neck just so, your hair falling in curls,
And I cannot help but reach out
To touch you

You will never know, my dear one,
My only, the woman who set my life alight for a brief time,
That I will love you forever,
But I will never, I couldn't ever
Touch you like I wanted

And I shall rue it every hour of my life.



the love letter collection
submitted 12:14 AM EST
Sunday, April 17, 2011