We lay in the dark of the morning,
A empty space where nothing's ever been
Our only bed companion.
We know the other is doing the same,
Their sleepy-haired head turning to the side,
A tentative hand sliding over the cool sheets;
Alone.
Strangely alone.
Minus the tug deep in your chest.
That sharp twang,
Like that of a plucked string,
When you think of the absence.
Absence is a theme.
Absence of a warm body.
Absence of a tender touch.
Absence of a hand to wipe away tears.
Absence of a ring on my finger.
In the dark, I wear it in the dark.
When the day winds down and I retreat to the cool, sweet smile,
In the dark of the night,
I wearing it then.
When I lay down,
My thoughts slipping into the high haze of dreaming,
I fumble for the box and slip the band around my finger,
In the dark of the night.
Always in the dark,
We kiss and touch and press together,
Creating sparks with the imagined friction of our skins,
Crying out and entreating with every breath,
To feel it in the flesh.
But alas, in the dark of the night.
Half-truths and understatements to preserve our privacy,
Our dark privacy,
In the dark of the night.
And in the light of the day,
When I am touched,
A friendly smile, a warm hug, a hand to squeeze,
A smile plastered on my face by practice as I stare,
As I think of you.
Your smile, your arms around me, your hand wrapped with mine,
And every atom in me,
Made of stars,
Silently screams that it should be,
It should be you.
And so I let the longing wash over,
Like waves on a beach,
Pulling at my plaster smile,
But only briefly.
Soon I draw in my breath,
Focus my eyes,
And think of only the dark
Of the coming night.
Living from one shadow to the next,
Creatures of the dark with hungry glowing eyes,
Begging to be uncaged,
Released from the murk and pitch,
A bright star oppressed by heavy, billowing, black rainclouds.
But let us not despair in this dark of the night;
All shadows meet light,
All clouds clear,
And all love shows.
So, we bide our time in the dark of the night
With forbidden kisses and stolen moments,
Waiting till we can throw off our cloak and be seen as we are;
As one.
