If A Ghost Could Talk Poem by Patti Masterman

At night do you feel me there
Watching you sleep, like ragged death
At war with your blankets; fogging breath
Sometimes I talk to you then
But you give no sign of hearing
Or of sensing me so near you
I'm the dark stranger in the night
Who comes to you in pain
Wanting to see you again
I linger in the doorway, just a ghost
To count as all your breaths go by
And to each one, add my sigh
You stirred then, as if you had felt
My presence there beside your bed
I longed to touch your forehead
The fence between us isn't real
But it's enough to hold me here:
You're asleep, and me in fear
Some day you know, that I must go
And leave you to your deeper dreams
I hope you find those silver streams
And find your special place in life
I'd give you mine, if it were mine
To give love, but I'm out of time.

(written to Dead Can Dance - Planet of Agony)