Lines to be Read After Dinner (November 1, 1982)

How many times have you danced through my dreams
A veiled enigma
Beyond touch
Hidden but for the flash of an eye
The hint of an ankle
How many times
In your absence we would meet in those dim hallways
In those stolen moments our sleeping minds always drew close
Though our waking minds kept us at a distance
There was never a severance
Just a gentle pulling that became a playful gnawing
That became a haunted tugging I would feel when I was quiet
All to remind me of how many times you had danced through my dreams
Countless innumberable infinite times
And many the time I tried to ignore you
Replace you abhor you
The efforts were useless as my heart’s door you pounded
But your hand was invisible
Was it really there?
Was it only what I wanted to believe
Was only I aware?
So I wait
Never quite fulfilled, always that subtle emptiness that washes past
After the preliminary joy of imperfect people
Undoubtedly many more times will you dance through my dreams
Undoubtedly I will watch in silence

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