The Length Of This Lifetime Poem by Linda Marie Van Tassell

The length of this lifetime is short and sweet
like a ruffle of ink into the sea,
a mindlessly beautiful winding sheet
that spirals like silk deep inside of me.

I fell from your lips into the abyss
tortured by hunger for more of the same
nourished by ghosts of your immortal kiss
that weep in my heart when I call your name.

I drift like mist into that sacred place
and anchor in silence, flowering deep,
bone-deep in the memory of your face
on the wingspan of hope that haunts my sleep.

The world unrolls in a carpet of night,
and a shower of stars rains in my hands.
I fade into the breath of sheer moonlight
dancing like a god over desert sands.

The length of this lifetime is but a breath,
a breath in the moments of loving you;
and I’ve tasted such sweetness that my death
will spark like the sun on a stem of blue.