Quite Simply You

Quite Simply You

Though I am far from you, when I shut my eyes
And half-open my lips, I sense the taste of you:
Not mere, pallid hope and antiseptic dreams,
But all of you and the constancy of you
And the sweeter, ever clearer idea of you;

I think of us: of you and me and you,
And when I am here alone, without you,
I remember each kiss and, again, drink you in,
I'm still absorbed in you and in your flesh
And breathe you out and in and out again;

If, with open eyes, I see nothing of you,
And the sensation of your absent presence,
Though I must think of you far away from here:
How your lovely face changes so wonderfully,
When it breaks into those heartening smiles;

And with every, quickening, mellow breath,
I recall all of your very, many clevernesses:
Every one of those delightful, unspoken phrases
That mean that, though I am here without you,
I am here with you for you are always with me.

I know that, when I am left with each goodbye,
Even though everything is full of farewells,
I am filled with their nearness and yours,
And the absorbing, life-enriching warmth
That is, quite simply, you.

M