! ! Where Do You Go, Girl? Poem by Michael Shepherd

Where do you go, girl,
when you fall asleep?

for even when we've spent a passion's time,
you, all woman and all animal,
and then drift gently into sleep
and I to watch you drift -
you're straight away a girl again.

Do you dream a girlhood's dearest dreams?
or roam a woman's world?
What girlhood's safe, safe place
do you retreat to
in your private sleep?

Was it when the only man to love
was your beloved father,
still recovering from a wartime's hangover
with alcohol - and your so fierce, despairing help?

Where do you go in sleep?
while I now watch this unknown girl;
an upper lip that asks so innocently
to be kissed?
And lower lip that just so innocently
enjoys?

Where do you go, girl,
so far, so many years away from me?
Where do you go, girl?