Anima(l)

The rain dances

Along the top of the grass

Drawing shapes in the morning air

On its way towards my window

 

Your naked back

Still sleeps

Tan, gentle, and warm

Beside me

Half-concealed

Beneath a sheet

 

I steal this moment

Caught between

The approaching showers

And your numinous warmth

When suddenly

An eyelid flickers

Above a fleck of mascara

 

The room is still and silent

 

At the threshold of reason

I hear

The muffled sounds of dreams

Behind your eyes

 

Waves crash onto the shore

A cloaked woman

Disappears over the crest of a hill

As a man sits naked

On the beach

Watching after her

His feet submerged

Beneath the inrushing waters

 

In dreams

As in life

You are a mystery

I kiss the small of your back

 

You quiver in response

And roll to face me

As your eyes slowly open

One at a time

And the last motes of dream

Glimmer and fade

 

The heat of your hand

Reaches towards me

I close my eyes

And accept the invitation

Of your flesh

 

Now one

We embrace on the sands

Oblivious

To the ocean

That encircles us

 

Like Prometheus and Andromeda

We are both chained here

Dreaming of freedom.