Poem to Shy Lover

A Poem To My Shy Lover


Than of my sweet Love’s gentle gaze,

Could my own eyes behold a fairer sight

as she doth waken to my touch with languid smile;

Her longing limbs reach out from moonlit haze

and through the shrouded secrecy of night.



What thinkest thee, that scarlet-ornamented lips are still,

And worries hide their tempest there behind thy furrowed brow?

Dwell not upon some long-past right or wrong,

Or silent memories carried on a song,

but only that which promises all mortal satisfaction, here and now.



Fear not, my dear, that sunlight seeks to steal our precious time,

and so dispels the moon from peaceful reverie above.

Our passion, hidden by the night, will not be quieted by dawn

When shadows fade and daybreak threatens

to betray forbidden love.



If my desire and all too roguish longing thee think sinful,

then, by rights, I beg no mercy for my fate,

but offer up my heart, and pray that yours will find compassion

that our love, so cloaked in darkness, must be slave to fleeting moments,

and show pity for my wantonness and woebegotten state.



Deny me not, my wistful, winsome lover,

that which rids my soul of all its doubt and loathsome fear.

‘Tis but your warming touch that gives my heart its cause to beat

and holds the torch that lights my restless spirit’s flame

when thou art near.



But if it please thee to admit no all-consuming need of me

and cast no furtive glance my way when morning skies are bright,

Then I shall relegate my roguish wants and constant longing

to the wisdom of the darkness

and the shelter of the night.

FCM