Wearied by loneliness
And grasping at straws
In the tidal wave of emotions,
We agree to meet at the city zoo,
The butterfly room summer Sunday.
As she talks affectionately about the poetry of life
And points to all the colorful creatures,
I slightly touch her elbow
And tremble more excitedly
Than a younger man making love.
A tendril of her black hair,
Flirts with her shoulder,
And I fall into a dream
Where I push back her hair
And kiss her neck for eternity.
Does she have an inner awareness
About my intense but tender longing
When she smiles that winsome smile of innocence?
Does she know I want to caress her arms
In a garden of lilacs and roses?
I’m a melancholy romantic
And overwhelmingly frantic
To submerge my being
Into the feminine charm of her essence,
To linger forever with her
Like the sweet perfume on her delicate wrists.