By Nicholas Valvanis   njvalv@maila.wm.edu
Date: 18 September 1997

Blackrock's Peak

She lingers alone under a soft sky,
     tasting the beauty of the day on high
     while slowly capturing the world, my world,
     with her gentile smile and tender glances.
With cheeks, soft as down, and outstreaching hands,
     she has stolen hushed peace leaving savage restlessness.
"Trust those who kiss and embrace like angels,"
     whispers the winged wind below the peak.
Powerless to every velveteen word,
     she has forced the cherubs to blush, in shame
     leaving only bold serenity to watch the steel night.
Her silent acknowledgement awkwardly
     binds me to her ever distant threshold.
In closer crowds I have wandered, searching
     for her smiling face, to come away with 
     the cold stares of strange hundreds, pale to her.
Her pulchritude inspires the chilled
     warmth of summer nights; the sweetness of dew,
     the small scent of the last cherry blossoms.
Captive to her visage, true love remains.