Promise Poem by Barry Blander

Your eyes flutter
(Frightened flocks
Of birds in flight)
Your pursed mouth;
A waving sunflower
Arrested by the startled wind.
So many intertwined stems
Of impaling thorn
And scarlet rose petal
Bind our souls,
Bewitch our melded bodies
Border and etch
The shadow lands
Of unrepentant dreams
We bleed too easily
Against the jagged shards
Of our sleeping self-knowledge.
So much cost to reckon up.
Who could ever pay the price?
If I could capture your sorrow,
Your quicksilver smile
In a glittering moment
Of evanescent time
Would I know how to
Mark the measure
Of your cascading tears?
Press my hand...
Vanquish the attenuated
Ghosts of my fear.
I will follow you
As you go before me.
I will not look back.
I promise you.