Time Poem by Suki Nakamura

from far you say
you whisper some words
of love for me
and you say i sit on
a bench by the sea
so i can hear you

you also say
time is the true measure
of love

(but you are far away
so, so far away
i have only time of waiting
and everything i
hear is this empty song
of the shell)

i wait for the flesh
of the empty shell
but my dear James
the measure of my love
for you
is to love you without
measure

shall i be another
Madame Butterfly
to you?
shall i be another
heart destined
for the dagger
of her father?

until when shall i
keep my door open
so i shall see again
autumn filled with
fallen chrysanthemums?