THE LINGERING GAZE

THE LINGERING GAZE
       (FOR KYLE)

The lingering gaze,
That cut through the haze
Of all lonely days 'til I met you.

Like a still quiet storm,
The day love was born,
Stifled my night time cries,
With a glimpse of your baby blue eyes.
You filled me with such wonder,
My past a giant blunder
Magically wiped clean 
By the force of your smiles
That calmed and eased all the while.

All the paths I traveled
Soon would unravel,
Like a bright flowing ribbon of magical sun,
Like a box of unopened, unbridled fun.
You cut through my heart's tattered maze,
With the art of your lingering gaze.

Over the years you were never a stranger,
Some nineteen years and counting.
You never turned your back on me,
Through trials and troubles mounting.
Through deaths of parents, uncles, aunts,
Through every kind of test,
Until the end I will call you friend.
My brightest and my best.

Now's the pandemic,and I cannot touch you,
We must stay six feet apart,
A grocery worker for your trade,
Dodging infection on parade,
Still you own my heart.
And if corona lasts 'til the twelfth of never,
I will look to find new ways so clever,
To draw you close to me,
Like the rush of water to the sea
From atop a mountain peak.
Your praises I will stand and speak,
Somehow I will endeavor,
In my own small, errant way,
Even from six feet down the hall,
Blood still pulsing, back against wall,

To stand and be counted, our love still a blaze,
An all consuming righteous fire,
I will let it burn and try to return,
Your infectious long and lingering gaze,
That gallantly rose snd cut through the haze,
Of all lonely days 'til I met you.

-Bruce Potts
Copyright 2020
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED