...

All I would steal from you is a kiss
Not the night, nor a part of it
Not furtive embraces under the quilt
Definitely not love, nor its pretense

I am flighty
I cannot hold on to anything
Longer than a kiss

I am whimsical
I could cry when you hold me
And laugh when you touch

I am nobody's sweetheart
I am in the gray zone
I linger at the edges of your dreams
Yet I can gaze at the sky
And hide the stars in my eyes
And with a kiss I could
Soak you deep under my skin.

Who teaches us to love like this
As if caught in a silent storm
To flutter and fall; To rise and drown
To be swept along; To lose all hold
I break open at your shore; I shatter

And hurt descends like a many clawed thing
Its dull leaden weight upon my chest
Like a bird of prey; her wings are shadows
Swiftly she alights; And darkness settles

I huddle beneath the open sky
I shiver under my many blankets
The storm has passed
The morning's gray
The sun is but a yellow smudge
The perennial winter has come to stay