I.


I saw you run
after her.
Your precious snow-peaks loomed
in the background
   - I was back there too-
You chased her tears
with your sympathy.
There was an aching in your
heart and perhaps
in your loin,
but who am I
to say what really went on?
I saw you reach out and caress her
pale skin,
a single tear fell from her cheek -
you let it fall and
it pounded into the earth.
A deep tremor echoed through
body, soul, and heart
and I felt it 3,000 miles away.
I heard it too,
early in the morning
I sprang forward from the mattress;
you seemed to fall backward
if only a little.


II.


After you faltered
you realized your mistake.
This is what I did not see
and all I could feel
was your betrayal.
The past quickly vanished and I
suddenly! was more than your backdrop,
I became more than some
sexual ball and chain.
The letters
l
o
v
e
in "lover"
became illuminated,
but I still couldn't see anything
until the day I saw you again -
it was more than I could imagine
and all that I needed to see.