October Parting

We were together.
For one brief hour the wall was down.

YOU and I,
Face to face.

What builds must have a finish.
No architect works forever on one building
Least in his madness he believes
He makes the perfect temple.

Your innocence and searching
I felt but brushed aside.
Did I know?
What was this paradise I found?

For one short span we were as one.
Denying nothing.
Together we were an island.

The apple's bitter fruit
The juice
Pulled
you away --

Off into your reality
Like the salt and sanguine of tortured flesh, bleeding
Calls to and pulls the hunger-fevered shark.

The cloud became a thunderhead
Its pastel shades Fading into a blind blackness and a still more blinding white.

The unknowing becomes the knowing.
The past haunts the future.
Purity screams forth one word
Spelled D E N I A L

But once I did see flame curl up.
I felt the ember's heat.
So now I can but ask

Beware
And let not a gentle hand fan the spark
Or the flame will gut.
Painful is a desire unleashed.

And pray.

Softly pour the water.
In all extinguishers are elements
That, if mixed with the wrong flame, only
Add
Heat.

The wall is solid once more.
Where is the gate?
My eyes search either side.
A single locksmith, You,

Made but one key.

It lies, if it is to be found,
Within the garden
Of your memory.