pensive rendezvous

Sweet whispers
in her ear
drunk
in the fog
of her intoxicating scent,

her cheek
near enough
to kiss
but instead
I missed
favoring
a brush
with the tip
of my nose.

Her heat,
her softness,
the electricity
all coalesced
into embrace
and comfort
that filled
and spilled
over my rim.

My vessel
is too small
to hold the volume
of this sea.

Her beauty
is too beautiful
to resist
as is her kiss,
her gaze,
her demure
defects
and the way
she glides
across the floor.

A perfect union
never to bear fruit
blossoming in the dark
of a crisp night.

Bittersweet rosebuds
litter my steps
as I stumble
and fall
away from her.

The dawn rises
like a terrible flame
engulfing
my panicked,
cowardly departure
from the very thing
I desire.

The calculations
and equations
of the arithmetic
of it all
boggle
my weary mind.

The cruelty
and fickle nature
of the universe
is a source
of great irritation today.

This pensive rendezvous
came to me like a gift
that I am not allowed
to open,

meant to sit
under my tree
and torment me
with what might be hidden
within.

A temptation
impossible
to ignore.

A possibility
I have been told
that should be both embraced
and denied.

A love
that will live
only in me
and that for now
I refuse
to let die.