…through my soul

I do not think about you
but I feel you
feel your presence
and your absence
all the same

not just a picture
or a disconnected portrait
in my mind
but integral
a part of me

in every minute of the day
I sense your presence
dreams of tender kisses
bring forth passion
and I feel you

your hands upon my skin
your lips upon my eyes
your arms about me
like a shield
against the world

I feel your breath
against my neck
and hear your whispers
in every breeze
I carry you within
like my very heart

I hold on to all the things
that make you up
the good and bad alike
to let them drop
would be to lose a part of you
and a part of me
would also fall away

I have always feared
a greater love
feared the risk
of pain and desolation
but the repercussions
of your affection
the reverberations
within my very core

are worth any heartache
any torment that I suffer
for I am staggered at the heights
to which you take me
and thunderstruck
with longing for your touch

I am no longer merely me
but made anew
with what you add
your passage
through my soul
as left its mark
a gift that I will carry with me
forevermore
© Ann Bagnall
2012