I don’t want to close my eyes.
I want to remember
Who we are tonight,
In this instant, in this juncture,
Without the future or the past.

I want to delineate you softly
And memorize your smile,
Allow my fingers to linger
In each curve and each line,
Dissolve my worries, compose a poem,
Draw a constellation in the sky.

I don’t want to close my eyes.
I want to be here and now,
Immersed in this moment,
With its sadness and its glory,
Flowing, motionless,
Feeling your lips next to mine.

I want to whisper ‘I love you’
While you dream tonight,
So my words can reach
All the places I can’t.

I don’t want to close my eyes.
I may become a memory
In the immensity of the night,
A transient love, a promise untold,
A relentless fugitive of time.

But it’s late and the stars
Are fading in the sky,
And everything is telling me
That is time to say good-bye.

A.V.O.
©2019 The Poet’s Wings