Somewhere Else

When you're far away from me
There are too many things
I can't say. Things I can't do, can't feel.
I try to remember the fire that burns away in you,
But now what good is that fire whose warmth
You are not here to share?

Here my love is a picture of you.
There are your eyes, shy and needle-sharp,
And your imperfect smile; a beautiful imitation.
But there you end, your mind rendered to paper.
So far away is that beautiful mind
That I cherish above all others,
That orchestrates all beautiful things that are you;
Your longing embrace that betrays your shyness,
Your words which quicker than the crack of a rifle
Could scythe me, and as quickly pull me
To the very summit of myself,
From where I could watch the world pass
In blissful silence.

I fear for the time that we are close again,
That I will only recognise your shadow,
That what was once a love song
Is now a whisper that clings to my mind's ear.
Perhaps this love is best frozen in its perfect picture,
For one of its living likenesses no longer
Recognises its own smile.

Somewhere else your love burns bright,
And though here I can't feel its warmth,
I pray that in the eye of my own summoned storm
Its flame will dance between the raindrops
And burn without need of me.