i'll know you better when ...

i'll know you better when ...

i'll know you better when
the summer comes
when the light is brighter
and all the world is not
cloaked in the grey shadow
of slow motion
that records time
in frozen moments and
lifeless lapses
aimlessly deferring the wonder
of every experience
like two unimpassioned lovers
blindly undulating
beneath woolen blankets
strangers to pleasure
who hastily seek the destination
and ignore the journey

i'll know you better when
the days linger long past
watching the sun melt
into a kaleidoscope of vapour
when the dawn
wakes the world
to a hopeful renewal
of the unexpected
and not to the sad repetition
of yesterday
which in turn
is so easily mistaken
for tomorrow

i'll know you better when
the rains have
come and gone
when wildflowers drown
prairie fields
with puddles of colour
intermingling
on a blank canvas
delicate waves of beauty
that with a simple turn
of your head
begin streaming
in excess
over the edge
to pool at your feet

i'll know you better when
i hear the songbirds
jazz up the solitude
of early mornings
with a sudden and
almost alarming
fusion of sound
when the undertones
of this mysterious cacophony
blends into a harmonics
that unlocks the windows
of my imagination
and my eyes catch a glimpse
of the world unfolding
with the same purpose and certainty
as the disappearing panels of a geisha's fan
a second sight that transcends
the immediate
and reaches far
beyond the cruel horizon

i'll know you better when
you turn to wearing sandals
over brightly painted toes
when you undress
into a threadbare flowery frock
that carves the outline
of your breasts
and reveals
in the brighter afternoons
the puff of down
that succeeds
in a single glance
to both hide and reveal
the yearning ensō
of your sex

i'll know you better when
your lips blossom
like the reddest rose
escaping the tight-fisted bud
of green uncertainty
to open and part
over my lips
when in the utter silence
that follows
i hear only the poetry of your body
whispering to me in love's language
and coaxing me with the rhythmic pulse and pause
of a singular heartbeat
to know the all and everything
that is you
until when
the summer ends
we turn like
yellow leaves falling
from the highest treetops
to drift apart and away
with the western wind
into barren
winter skies again

© Kennedy James. All rights reserved.