I look for you in the white feather that
floats from nowhere, the light footfalls
that pause when I pause, the whisper
over my shoulder while I read; I read
your message in the flash across the
night sky and breathe your orange
blossom fragrance when the nearest
orange blossoms are miles away;

You hover in shadow, your face like
the cover of The Beatles, your eyes
expressing a secret you never shared,
your secret safe with me since secrets
told are lost like silver dollars cashed
for bubble gum; the soft tap-tap-tap
of my pencil impels me to listen for
you in the silence between taps;

To cross the frail, narrow-planked bridge
is to find you but the toll is more than
I can pay and I withdraw my foot before
walking the plank; thought may lead
to deed but silence of that sort pushes
you deeper into shadow until even your
face is swallowed by the black hole that
eats both living and dead.