Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
Her breath is slow
Nasal and deep
Her chest rises and falls rhythmically
Like the waves breaking against the beach -
On a clear and calm night.
A light breeze choreographs
the curtain in a flowing dance -
Against the pale glow of the moon.
I listen attentively to the subtle sounds of
A sleeping universe
Tranquil like the trickling of an isolated creek.
Allowing my eyelids to fall over my eyes
Sleep envelops me with the warmth of a blanket
and I surrender gladly to it
The roof was wet but it hadn’t rained
The man had been up there for some time
Sat on the apex. Head between the knees.
Murmurings of panicked concern among
  those below.
He might want to jump, they thought.
No.
His flies were undone and the zip was stuck.
You don’t realise it but
I’ve fallen for you
To you I am nothing
Just another man on another train
Perhaps not even there -
In your thoughts or
In your conscious awareness
But in mine you are everything
You were only there for two stops
Time I spent absorbed in
Timeless and rich fantasy
Constructing a reality where you
Are mine and I yours
Your stop and you depart
I am left desperately watching you fade
Into the swarm of rushing masses
Feeling a loss like that of a first love -
If only for a moment.
Surrounded by busy and tired strangers
On the commuter train
Wondering if I’ll see you again
The man you loved may remain
Yet only as a fading memory
Tainted and broken with pain
Like an oil slick seeping into the sea -
Picturing the once infectious personality
obscured with now confused unfamiliarity.

But cherish and remember
Those moments of lucidity and joy
Even just the dying ember
Is too valuable to destroy
So stoke the flames burning out
To him we love and to his last-
we must remain devout.
How much did they hurt her
Those harsh words I shed
I fired them off in anger
bullets deadlier than lead

She snapped back quick;
But it was clouded in her eyes,
Glazed with tears so thick.
Our boat of trust capsized.
The large rock was dislodged
The one overlooking the cove.
Many centuries it had remained.
Many generations had sat upon it.
Yet how brief was its final tumble?
One bounce. Two. Three. Four.
A flock of birds is almost squashed.
An ancient tree is obliterated.
Roll. Splash. Gone.

— The End —