Somnambulism

Somnambulism

I close my eyes at night
And your face fills my thoughts
You taunt me, your image flitting across my heavy eyelids
Always just out of reach.
Neither love nor hate, but a strange passion overwhelms me
To grab you in unyielding arms, but to kill or to kiss? Your beauty
sours my heart.
It burns in the fiery humiliation of a love unrequited
A love misunderstood by all
Even its gatekeeper.
Holding back the greatest of all forces
In this world and the next
As if it were a childish lust, a source of shame.
While you are near me, I cannot strike out.
While I stand guard, I cannot weep.
While I burn, I will never be free.