You washed over me today-
Darkest hair, hazel of eyes
And that lower luscious lip-
As I retraced those steps
From a lifetime ago
And found myself
Lost again-
Like all those years ago-
When I’d first fallen
Upon this Sea of a City,
Back when your heart
Had begun to feel
More like mine
Than mine itself.
I’d walked that narrow walled city
That day
As gallant green waters
Glistened along side me
And I listened out for the ghosts
Of past parties
In Taffeta skirts-
Giggling
And with masked faces-
Smiling
Before I stopped,
And by this very bridge,
I called you
And told you
I’d fallen
And thought nothing of those rushing waters
Beneath me-
Their movement,
Their depth,
Their current-
How far they can take you
From the shore.
I thought us to be as inseparable
As Gondola from Gondolier
And yet we sank
As surely as the City will itself
One day,
Some day
When time itself has forgotten all about
The lovers who laughed
And loved
And kissed
And promised-
Just like us
Before the waves washed us over
And around
And in between,
Before our hands let go
And you slipped away to dance through other lands,
In other hands,
That Time and Space that time has almost forgotten
And yet,
Do you know-
There are times
When my lower lip trembles
With the memory
Of your kiss
And the weight
Of your heart
When I wore it?
—
All words and photographs by Damien B. Donnelly