I Spy

I see you, or I think I do;
Though all I truly know
Is two wise eyes blinking in a cave,
Your face in shadow, form unseen.
Yet the shapes you carve from the dark
Flicker on my mind’s rough surface;
Perhaps they echo some primal dance
Of long-forgotten ghosts -
Yours or mine or ours -
The discoverers of fire,
And words, and fear.

Silence.
A solemn blink,
A shifting shape
I sense but cannot see.
Silence.
You watch.
I dream.

I dream your curves, your frown.
I conjure you in flame,
And leap into your your burning heart,
The beating drum
Becomes my own -
Your shadow mine -
And so we dance,
Shade upon shade
Leaping on roofs
And ancient walls.

I whisper to a ghost;
Your answer is already
On my tongue,
I hear it in my voice,
My mind, not yours.

Are we truly one already,
Those shapes I saw
Behind your eyes
The mirror of my own?
Does my own flame-shadow
Dance in your dark soul?

You blink. And I sing,
I dance - perhaps alone -
To a wordless tune I hope
Will summon you into light.

And then I will see you as you truly are
And study you with blinking eyes
From the safety of my cave.


RBW 2023