6

 

distant
slurred
reverberant

like a voice
in a canyon

I hear her calling
in my mind

my name
rolling
sweet as nectar

from lips

soft
as orchid petals

full
as a bursting peach

glistening
deep coral

as they wrapped
softly
‘round each
pouted syllable

when she bid me
tender farewell
so long ago

our fingertips
had strained
to grasp

until
the final sensation
of warmth

of touch

had faded

and they had
drifted apart

I had struggled
to tear my eyes
from her
tears

that glistened
on her lashes

and around
her swollen
crystal blues

to slip softly
over the crests
of her velvet
cheeks

then
down the contour
of her face

flushed as sunset

to lightly salt
her quivering lips

and
as I passed

numb and dazed

through the tunnel
of the
loading gate

toward the jet
that took me
to hell

I had
at that moment

locked the image

of that sorrowed
face of love

deep in my heart

It had proved
my salvation

my only grasp
on sanity
in those
horrific years

my lips
too
had quivered
on that day

with the sting
of separation

and the chilling
knowledge
I would
soon taste
the bitter blood
of war

foul with the
stench of death

having not yet
departed

I had already
longed
to gaze again

into her
brilliant blue eyes

and taste
her sweetness

yet

as I return
this day

trying to face
reality from
30,000 feet

I taste the salt
of sadness

for I fear

a kiss
from me

with my killer’s
mouth

will forever defile
the fragile innocence
of those
luscious lips

soft
as orchid petals
full
as a bursting peach

that glistened
and quivered

when last we parted