I can't help but be consumed
as the whole of love comes upon me
while you are far away.
You will soon return, you say,
but in how many desperate hours?
When will your aching body
reclaim the place that my bed,
expectant and healing,
has been keeping
as I am counting the days?
When will my hands get to hold your tired head?
And downstairs one apartment floor,
your door--
Each time, walking past,
I hope to see a light through your bright window,
or that smiling face,
like the first time I saw you
as you waved and I was startled.
Then again, like an ocean,
the whole of love comes upon me
while you are far away.
The warm tides of longing,
And the infinite ache.
