photo credit via link edited for color by drc
ACROSS THE ROOM
It’s been so long.
So many years
we’ve known the attraction
and felt
that overwhelming yearning
welling-up within
at the very thought of each
other…
You know how I feel.
You know
that when I am alone
my mind glides
over the thought of you…
and the things we have shared between us.
I know how you feel.
I know…
But you
have made your
commitments,
and so
have I.
And we both know
No one else can be privy
to our private longings.
Oh…
but that moment.
I couldn’t help it.
After so long
finally in the same room together.
The greeting…
the kiss on the cheek…
All I could do
when my
cheek finally touched yours
was breathe
a barely-audible
“Oh my god…”
because the electricity I felt between us
was enough to melt
even the
staunchest of reserve.
I couldn’t breathe
I desperately
didn’t want to move away.
I wanted to stay there
my cheek pressed to yours,
and whisper all those
things in your ear…
to change that innocuous kiss hello
into a caress
of your chin
with my lips,
which would inevitably lead
my lips to
yours…
That tiny moment of contact
overwhelmed me
with thoughts
of all the
urgent intimacies…
all the
breathless moments of passion
we both know…
and we both knew
that at that very moment
we were dying to share them.
But protocol made me step back
and maintain a semblance of
nothing unusual
and I hoped my cheeks
weren’t flaming
and that my heartbeat
wasn’t as audible
to everyone else
as it was
to me.
I moved away
across the room
and I pretended
- that my every nerve
wasn’t alive to your
movements…
- that my ears
weren’t attuned to the nuances of your
voice
even if I couldn’t hear your words from the distance…
- that my
eyes
weren’t following you in my peripheral vision…
- that I wasn’t aware of where you were
at every moment.
So much time
so close
trying to hold up
that invisible wall…
I had to step outside
just to gather myself together.
I leaned over the stone porch railing,
closed my eyes,
and deeply breathed the cool, night air.
but when I stood up
you were there
right behind me
and I felt myself melting
I didn’t know if I could handle
another
encounter that close,
and you heard me
audibly, quietly
whimper
trying to hold myself together.
I knew it was you.
every inch of your warmth
insanely aroused
every
part of me
but I couldn’t turn.
One look into your eyes
and
I knew I would get lost.
I knew this.
You knew this.
Your hands,
lightly resting on my hips
I could sense were
itching
to hold me tighter
to turn me around
to run over every inch of me
but
They were staying where they were
writing a symphony on me,
and in
me,
instead.
My mind was caught
between
“Not here! Someone will see!”
and
“Please! Don’t ever let
go!”
“Turn around,”
you said hoarsely into my hair,
with your hands on my
waist
making me crazy.
My head leaned back
and I gasped with need.
Needing you.
Oh my god
Needing you more than I thought possible.
“I can’t,” I choked.
“If I do, I won’t let go”
and it was your turn to
groan in hunger.
I felt your fingers
tighten their grip on my waist,
and then release
me,
and your absence
made me weep.
So much time
so close
trying to hold up
that invisible wall…
I made myself look out
over the lake,
into the mountains in the
distance,
reflecting the bright moonlight
and then I hung my head,
and felt the tears fall silently
for what I had to give up.
But protocol made me step back
and maintain a semblance of
nothing unusual
When I returned inside
you were gone
and I could not bring myself to
stay.
Without you
it had all turned to gray.
©drc 2007
Recent Comments