Her eyes bright burned

Her eyes bright burned, brown and alight 
Her hair snaked and fell
Round that almond olive face I knew
Too well to hide, to turn, to run.

Too much to say, my tongues trips
And bounces over the cobblestones of my mouth
Like some errant cyclist wishing repair
And she, seeing, halts him with a finger
Slid slow as oil across my lips.

She looks at last
And love, meaning all, is seen
A balloon, between buildings, watched together
Until no sound alerted me to her aim
And, looking then, I knew.

I’m not here, she says, and you know
And you know just how long I’ll be gone 
Your heart in my hand, leaden, beats but enough
To perform all its chores, but no more.

There’s no future in the past, she continues
As I feel, or envision, her touch,
You always knew with a look what I want
But it’s done and we lost and I’m gone.

Eclipsed with a wink in reverse she is gone
My thoughts yet again return
To that time before then when she lay here
Creasing her nose and stretching across
This ocean to my shore, my kiss.

But coffee knows, and it draws me back
To this world lit by sun, not by her
And the world turns, as do I, and I know
I live in the present. I remember her well.
That’s all – go watch another.