By Nikki
Date: 25 May 2000

There Was Something...

There was something
not quite right with
the way you said my
name today.  It lacked 
the warmth of your smile,
falling like the wind-driven
snow on sunburnt ears.

I tried to reach you
with subtle questions,
wanting to know if there
was something I could do
(or was it something I did?),
but you're standing on the other
side of the looking glass,
and this glacier does not allow
my voice to carry.

I stretched a gentle hand
to brush your arm in a
soft caress, and my
fingertips were scalded by
the coals of uncertainty.
You fade from my vision
as the sun burns off the 
early morning haze.

There was something
not quite right with
the way you said my
name today, and the
man in my closet just
poked his head out 
to laugh cruelly in my face.


5/24/00  NL