On the Flame of Love’s Embrace

If I could awaken from love’s dream
turn the mercury to a sliver
and hush the very breath that warmth and joy delivers…

If I could snuff the laughter
to a filtered pretend chuckle
and fasten tight the mystery with a hardened cut-steel buckle

If I harnessed dreams’ heart and hope
with a cold and cloudy stare
and turned my face from what is real
if I could stop love there

Soon the prickle of the cold
would turn my heart to grief,
if I awakened from the dream laid at my lover’s feet
And so this vision must remain
sweetly moving, gently nurtured in the hope of my love’s flame