Eyes closed

…So soon?

How quietly you breathe,

How slight

The gentle rising of your breast.

Swiftly indeed

The insistent urging of desire

Has succumbed

And,

Docile now,

Rocks

In her peaceful bay.

 

Outside

The trees

Are absolutely still.

And motionless

Wide continents of cloud

Have hidden the moon.

Somewhere

The murmur

Of a pebbly stream

Croons

Continuously

While from afar,

Muffled

Along a lonely motorway,

The sound

of a passing traveller

Purrs,

Then fades.

 

At first

The very shadows

Seem attentive

And alert.

But soon

Even they,

Lulled

by your quiet breathing,

Grow drowsy

And drop off

And fall away

And only I

Lying here beside you

Am awake.

 

Peering

Through the darkness

At your face

I try to guess

What quiet graciousness

Of dream

Moves

With such calm decorum

Through your sleep.

...........................

But then

.......................

I too

..................

Become slumberous

.............

And lie back

..........

And fall to

....

 

But just before I went to sleep I swear

That the tall, gaunt, Guardian of the dark

Drew back the clouds, blew out the moon and stars

And, looking down, smiled on us for a moment

…………………………..…Then crept away