Slipperless

And there it is -
you
only you
and it feels like
it has always been thus – only you.
You are the sun around which
my small and lonely planet orbits
you are the healing rain
on the stretching branchlets
of this newborn tree.
And I want to go calm into this
pallid day -
this
unfeeling sunshine smiling stupidly while
the people walk by
talking their unimportant talk
doing their unimportant important things
but all I can feel
underneath this love is fear
that we are late to this banquet
and the dancing has commenced
and I am Cinderella on the dancefloor
frantically waltzing
while the damn clock ticks
inexorably
beneath the blanket we’ve thrown atop it
and I am melting melting
because this heartbeat
beneath my ear
is all I want to hear for the rest of my life
but I hear the damn pumpkin
and those cursed horses
stamping at the end of the drive
and if Death comes early –
the cheating bastard –
I will tear him to pieces with these
manicured nails
and spin you one more time -
once more –
eyes closed, face buried in that
strong warm chest
your hair, your arms, your good smell
all around me
until my fingers have memory
and I can taste you in my dreams.