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 

ONE LAST MILE TO TRAVEL

ONE LAST MILE TO TRAVEL

One last mile to travel,
Then I will be no more
Gone will be be the packs of wolves
Groveling at my door.

When kindness it is quarantined
And charity is banished,
Annihilation's guaranteed,
As into the cracks we vanish.

Come to me, oh weary one,
I will lick you clean before I go
These are bare and desperate times,
Like none I've ever known.

When the plague it comes, this virus,
To spirit me away.
The last mile it will manifest,
Shimmer like an amethyst,
Lighting up the day.

Another chance, another sunrise,
Graces the horizon,
But I fear what we're becoming,
As we blithely plot our own demise
A not so eloquent surprise
These grim divided people.
Holed up behind computer screens
Those churches without steeples.

One last mile to travel
Then you can mark my words
Words that swarm toward the light.
Like desperate, hungry birds.

Words that flout convention,
A respite or a cure,
The vaccine we are seeking
To inoculate the world.

One last mile to travel,
It's up to you and me,
With all the best intentions
To live mindfully and free.

Come to me, protector one,
You have healed a weary soul,
Come and claim your medal,
Kiss me deep before I go.

One last mile to travel,
So leave me to rehearse,
Go softly, love, unto my door
And bid the wolves disperse.

-Bruce Potts
Copyright 2020
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED