Cup Of Tea? Poem by Bill Smith

Love floats silent in the air
Lips, quiet like sated leeches
Flushed with words
Remain mute
Naught' stirs but his aching heart
Eyes seek an answer to a question unasked
Shadows cast by fire light dance on cold walls
On the rug a canine stirring
a show of affection
Affection denied him
Her toe gentle, gliding along the dogs back
The past bleeds a tear onto his future
He wishes himself dog
Curses the weakness of his jealousy
He knows
Knows she has no one
no one but him
He loves
he loves her
Midst forty years of gathered ephemera
He sighs
She smiles
Mistaking his sorrow for contentment
He sees lost horizons in her smile
Love that never speaks
He searches those eyes
As deep a blue as when he first saw them
Treasure seeks the past in their sparkle
Looks back down the short road of yesterday
Forward to the cul de sac of tomorrow
Logs crackle and spit in the fire
Stray sparks fade to lay as dust in the hearth

Blue lights flash by the window
'bad news for someone'
their eyes return to the glow of the fire
'shall we'? the words catch in his throat
'pardon'
'nothing just a thought'
one question he knows the answer to
behind the wrinkles he sees the girl he loved
wonders what she sees lying beneath his greying hair
he longs to make love like they used to
before the knife took away her desire
she smiles
he bends forward
carefully places wood on the fire
the diamond on his cheek caught by the flame
a flash of salted brilliance

'do you remember making love by the fire'?
her voice brittle, weighed heavy with sadness
'the hot summer in Coniston
our honeymoon
the stone cottage we rented
we made love in front of the fire
our first time
you were so gentle that night
so gentle
do you remember'?

a curtain of guilt falls
he couldn't remember
he didn't remember
his silence
saying more than words
his tears burning his eyes

'cup of tea'?