Awaken, Lingering Love

You sat there when I woke up

I don’t think the sound of my breath

Was with you, filling you, your smile

Was telling me other more wanton

Things. The painting over your head,

That portrait you knew I made

When the days were full and sad

And I’d given my last plant away,

And you still hadn’t come back —

Now you sat leaning against the wall

And my stomach was making leaps,

You asking me about the painting

About how I made intricate little

Flowers so well aligned,

Referring to some cheap

Wallpaper from Goodwill that

I combined in so many ways to

Make a face I have loved and

Fought bitterly with, and gave my

Whole heart to, and I’d never

Been known to make anything

Intricate or ever aligned;

My colours come out

Too messy, too big for this.

A portrait is that which

Evokes a person but you

Didn’t see her, or how my eyes were

Eluding you as you looked at me

Newly woken, firing with fright,

Waiting for a touch of the ages.

 

 

Love elephant and want to go steady?

Sign up for our (curated) daily and weekly newsletters!

Editor: Travis May

Images: Rosmary/Flickr