Standing in Silence

I thought I saw the precipice before you.
I would have sworn I heard you ask me
if you could go now,
but
I said,
"No, you can't leave me."

Windswept sea spraying into my eyes
in dream-intense torment and pleasure;
words coming like a dragonfly over the sea,
I caught them on that same breeze.

I've silenced my tongue into submission
not to talk of the things you detest
and the press of desire
to talk of such things
is still hard to suppress.

Instead, I try to remember that
what I feel is what you feel
and my questions are yours, too.

When it was my turn to leave,
teeth clenched, and eyebrows knit.
I said "I have to go,"
and
you said,
"Goodbye."

It returns later
as the rose and gold sunset
takes a last blessing
from the horizon
and kisses it goodnight.

Your words and the sensations
that are not mine
always come back,
no matter how many times
you say
"Goodbye."