n a Heart's Prison of Gold

A quiet moment in a corridor

A hurried kiss under a moon washed tree

A stolen wink in a crowded room

A bold exchange of touch and glance

My first brush with ardent romance

You grew and pierced my mind's cocoon

My nights grew sleepless

 Loneliness reigned

And folly prevailed

My love flowed freely

On to flowered, scented paper

I listlessly gave vent

To the weight of torment

Seething at my being’s core

I sought your caresses

And wished for more

Then the tide flowed...

Through the misted curtains of a dream

Floats in the face

That once was close

Smelling of mouth freshener and after shave

A body soaped and bathed in perfume

Soon swathed once more

In primeval scents

A kiss that burned languorously slow on parched lips

While hot palms draped and crushed my skin

Caresses rained lush and stoked a flush within

Then the tide flowed…

I almost hear the creaks and cries

The throes

Of amorous battle

We lit the room with the joy of love

Passion was its flame

And fantasy its hue!

Tingling laughter echoed

From the contours of our soul

Then the tide flowed…

I am now an old maid

Faltering in step

Stammering in speech

My wealth - my begging bowl

Behind locked gates

And walls of stone

I seek love and fail

I long to remember the face

That face, that once was close

My rheumy eyes cast about

In eager dread

I yearn to tell the world

I once was a queen a lover a mistress

Held high in a heart’s prison of gold.