I Sat Near A Stream

Fall leaves give way to Galena Creek, Reno, Nevada/ Photo by the author

I sat near a stream
To see where your love
Would take me.
The trickle of cool water
Carried me away
From the frantic heat
Of a mid day sun
Set high in the empty sky.

You flow with the clouds,
Away and beyond my grasp,
Though once I languished
In your bed
Even long after the sun
Captured the innocent sky.

Tender leaves, falling
Blue-bellied birds, calling
The pallid moon, never falling
Asleep in my waking dreams.

I sat near your coffin
Awaiting your return
To life;
Your chest to rise and fall,
The love in your voice
To call.
But the Summer sun faded
Before my very eyes,
The rising crescent moon
Smitten by midnight skies.

How short are the Winter days
You left behind,
Your hot lips a memory
I have jealously locked away.
The eager pleasure of your
Hard body,
Staying green in the field
Of my abundant memories,
Though the touch of your hands
Has faded, never again.

I sat near a stream
To see where my life would ebb,
How many breaths could I take
Beneath the water
Filling my lungs
With liquid slumber
Like a baby in my mother's womb.

Will the empty sky miss me,
The earth taste my still fair flesh?
How long will the waters flow
Without me,
Once my soul is flying high?