While You Were Asleep { Ariel's Obsequy } - Version 2 Poem by Frank James Ryan Jr...fjr

I watch you as you sleep,
Feel a warming breeze pass your cold, still lips;
An essence of florals, and my eyes affix-
On the bleeding heart draped 'pon your silk, blue gown.

A string of pearl rosaries intertwine alabaster fingers,
The Crucifix looks down on you with venerating passion,
A single ivory rose finds peace beside your breast,
Reminds me of the one you pressed in a paperback of Poe.

And, oh, those abhorrent catty-cornered torchere lamps,
Juxtaposed and rigid as Buckingham Guards.
You used to say ''Why must parlors insist on their presence? ''
I despise them too, and for you my love, I command their removal.

'Tis nine at night, prayers of closure fade-
to a soft sound of footsteps;
I exercise temperence with amorphous expression,
Masking wired nerves, depressed veins in migraine,
Handshakes of pestilence acknowledge unbeknown faces.

Woke up this morning to the sound of rain, how sadly apropos.
'Twas just the other day, we walked the beach...or did we?
Alone now, kneeling 'fore you; so many thoughts, so little time;
Instead, I kiss your powdered cheek, and whisper in your ear,
''I await the day I'll place an ivory rose on you, again''.





© 2015-All rights reserved
Frank James Ryan Jr. / FjR