Too Long Away
He tried to remember her face.
The angular features and
the stunning beauty
that captivated him,
were just a memory.
He wanted to remember her smell,
the touch of dark hair,
the line of her nose.
He caressed her image
in his mental gymnasium.
He remembered only his vision of her.
She was too long away
from him,
too far removed
from being with him.
He pretended that he was a court magician.
Merlin-like,
he conjured a likeness
for the Court
of make-believe.
She wore a flowing scarf.
Silk and lace
covered her,
and her voice,
lilting and lyrical,
captured the conscience of a King.
Did she feel the pain of absence,
or was she
too long away
to remember him?
The minutes are longer now.
The hours are days.
The days are weeks.
If time were relative,
His clock sped along
above the speed limit.
He wanted time to stop.
He wanted a moment of love
in a lifetime of hoping.
For such a moment,
he would make her a Queen.