19 November 2000

Long silences no words are spoken
Time spent with you is never wasted
The sweetest moments I've yet tasted
Lie in the space where speech lies broken.

A sullen face you give to things
In your attempts to poison the well
And I remain ever under your spell
Nuzzling the nettle, daring the stings.

I pluck a far more precious prize
The taste of your fruit is rarely sweet
And yet I've a taste for its delicate meat
Of its galling nourishment I fantasize.

I once thought that love was a nobler state
A spiritual alchemy, ever-refining
It’s become a lengthy undermining
A better truth, but I learned it late.