You Shift In Your Dress Poem by Lors Dilouley

evening descends like a softly fleeting dove
it covers the hour with a soft expectation
you are hovering your reflection
you shift in your dress.

a finger to your lips,
a hand to your hair,
smooth a wrinkle,
practice a smile.

he comes for you to make your way.
the knock, the door, the creak, the rustle-
you look again, but you lie.
you shift in your dress.

to him-perfection
to him-beauty bursting through your eyes
to him-unquenchable uniqueness
to him-mystery untamed.

but your thoughts override his affirmation
as color floods your face with a flush of crimson
to magnify your insufficiency.
you shift in your dress.

to be careful is slow.
to rush is unwise,
nothing can hold your tongue
when deceit overcomes instinct.

the fragrance of love saps the humid air of life
and you can no longer breathe in his presence.
he reaches to your arm
you shift in your dress.

to stop, misunderstanding.
to stay, revealing you.
to wait, misinterpretation.
he keeps his eyes on yours.

your mind stays a conflagration of noise
noise of the city, of reason, of his voice.
an explosion captures your fancy-
you shift in your dress.

confused? he strokes your cheek.
bemused? you smile at his gentleness.
befuddled? can you even stop his gestures?
he seeks to discover.

here the moon has risen far over the sky
no clouds mask your visage, nor resolve.
you turn to him as you both walk up the path.
you shift in your dress.

words come as quickly as your rapidly creative mind
they reach his ear as you think once more
and wish you had trapped them within your lips.
a glow emerges and reaches your eyes.

he stops.
you wait.
he breathes.
you shift in your dress.

shoulder to chest,
heart to ear.
arms to waist,
thigh to hip.

you're close now.
his scent beats your heart with a rhythm unknown
yet you will not let go as
you shift in your dress.

he holds you so tightly for what you know you are.
and he loves you with more than you should receive.
your lies are forgotten at this moment,
and you smile, uncaged.

but tomorrow they rise again as his side leaves yours.
your person cannot be found within his.
meaning seems a hopeless conquest-again
you shift in your dress.

he hears it and knows.
he turns to the back, forgotten his task
and his face understands why.
to you lies his solace, and he is your rest.

the day greets the morning breeze.
your hair uncombs itself gently
he makes
you shift in your dress.