An Ever Fix'D Mark Poem by Dónall Dempsey

Long journey

missed trains

late trains

(lost trains?)

last
train
at last

brings me to you
in the early hours

of the morning

yawning I

enter like a thief
in the night

to find you
naked

on the ground
as if drowned

Shakspeare's Sonnets
at the outermost reach
of your fingertips

as if you had expired
reading it

my shirt clutched
in your hand

its cuff
stroking your hair

it's collar between your
open lips

my kiss
startles you awake

still cobwebbed
with dreams

you tell
of how

you tried
to stay up
to stay awake
to wait up for me

but sleep
kidnapped you

& hid you
in full view

upon the living room floor

dressed only
in a sonnet

with only
this shirt

for comfort.

I gather you
up

carry you
across the threshold

(never so naked a bride)

of our now
dawn brightened bedroom

you the most
precious

thing on my eart

I lay
you in bed

like a seashell
I had found

marrying our minds

truly

admitting

no impediments.