Fortress?

I wear the frock of a

Moth-eaten reality. Dreams

Are but fragile silver lotuses

In a barren field. And I,

Petty peddler of

Fragmented time and dreams, I

Am nothing of a builder, though

I dream myself an Architect.

I built this fortress of vaulting

Glass and spun of spider silk and

Fallow gold tears spun on the spindle

Of the sun, around your heart to keep

You warm, to keep you safe from the

Ethereal strange place known as the

‘Outside World.’

Yet the angles and the corners,

Though my work is unparalleled,

But needed the indolent kiss of your

Honeyed lips, and the gossamer spun silver

Of your tears, for the foundation to crumble in

My hands like snowflake on the cusp of a cheek,

A kiss, it lingers here a moment more, then vanishes.

And you were free to go.

A creature such as you,

Draped in the tattered frock

Of the day, as though it were yours

To stay around you, a being so ethereal,

Cannot be contained by even the most

Passionate hearts afire, their meaning,

Good or ill, lost on the morning breeze of

A new sunrise. So if the Fates decree

That I shall not have you in sun-crafted

Tapestries of my heart, then you are free

To go.

I am nothing of a builder, though

I dream myself an Architect. I build this

Pirate’s vessel, to keep me warm, to keep me

Safe in the restless sea of your heart. So I am but

A ship, driven helpless by your whims, sails

Caught on high by the whisper of your promise,

And those most cherished words. What a poorly written poem

What a couplet out of rhyme I should become, if I were

But a mere sullen conch upon the shore,

Locked within my own intricate spirals,

Condemned to hear my ocean roar, but

See it nevermore. And you were free to go

Upon your ponderous tides.

So you drive with me in a car

The color of crushed velvet and

Dreams, we travel like vagabonds without

Seatbelts on, just to shake hands with death.

You alone of Daybreak have shown me

The night holds silver, though venture

To dig through the black velvet for the

Promise of treasures of stars, save you.

And you are free to go. So stay with me awhile

Longer, upon the shore of dreams. I’m just beginning to

Understand the beauty of a new sunrise.

Call me a drifter if it pleases

You, but know this-such is not true,

For I alone have known the safety of

Being adrift in your arms, the only

Safe and certain thing in my riptide of a life.

You were free to go.

I am nothing of a builder, though

I dream myself an Arist. I shall seal

Your palms in royal red, and hand you

The yellowed and aged envelope that

Contains my heart. My sole plee-

Open me carefully. You were free to

Go, and yet you stay. And for that

Allow the winds to whisper, wherever you

May go, these cherished words you gifted to me,

A gift I return a thousand-fold….I love you.