Shadowed Secrets

(From the eyes of a stranger)

He saw her.
The vision of a starstruck nymph
stuck against the moonlight.
Almost glowing as she stood
basting in the starlit sky.
A breeze lifted her hair
letting it cascade around her
like a cocoon born only to protect.
The shimmering fabric she wore
fluidly wrapped around her very being
lucidly dipping down her back
resting gently against her feet.
The night wind calls her name
beckoning her to leave her perch.
She raises her arms
as if in praise to the very night
that has captured her.
A vision of perfection.
A dream perhaps
brought to him on this night of nights.

(Another teardrop falls)

A teardrop falls
caressing my cheek, embracing my neck
resting within the valley between my breast.
Another teardrop starts
following the same path as the first.
Why, oh why...
the same questions
raging through my mind, through my heart.
I raise my arms
cursing the moonlight
that had been our savior...
in times gone by.
Could we escape the peril
the danger of being seen?
If only that moon had been stronger
or just strong enough to fight the dawn away.
To bring back the shadows
that enveloped our secret.
Two lovers torn by our ranks
our position in life,
I of royalty, he a pauper.
If only we could have loved more freely.
Why couldn't our love be kissed by sunlight?
Not just shadows...another teardrop falls.

(His heart has a mind of it's own)

He loved holding her
watching the moonlight dance in her hair
like flickering fireflies, caressing her skin
playing gently on her face.
Their embrace lingering
far past the point of safety.
Caught in the euphoric bliss
just one more moment
just one last kiss.
The dawn breaks, ever so fast
chasing away the shadows.
Now they're trapped.
The disapproving eyes
condemning them
hands reaching out
tearing them apart.
Now shackles bind his arms
just as surely as her love binds his heart.
He knew this time would arrive
when their secret would be shone.
But the risk was worthy of her love,
his heart has a mind of it's own.

(Perils do befall us)

So many moonlights,
they come and go...then come again.
My heart still yearns for him.
I saw him only yesterday.
They led him through the streets.
His peers throwing stones,
yelling words of hatred
"How dare he forget his place".
His wrists are blood soaked
cut by the shackles he wore.
Still, he held his head high.
Above the streets
from a window cast in shadows, I watch.
God how I wanted to turn away.
Lacking the courage to see him face to face.
Seeing what our love has got him.
But for just a moment
his eyes met mine
and he smiled.
In that instant, I saw so clearly
I was his one true love.
They pull him onward
as they pass I return to my task.
I take the poison from the jar
and pour it in the flask.

(The Power of a Kiss)

Another moonlight coming
chasing the sun into depths of oblivion.
As I wait,
ever so patiently
I know this moonlight will be my last,
no longer casting shadows
or hiding secrets.
Our love unfolded for all to see.
I steal down the darkened corridor
down the stairway
toward the one I love.
I trod steady, closer and closer
finding him among the shadows.
I reach for him.
Our destiny set in motion
by the very family that swore their love.
God have mercy on them.
Ignorance blinding the souls
that condemn us to our fate.
I take the flask raise it to my lips
and quench my thirst
leaving within my mouth's reservoir,
enough, his thirst to quench.
Our lips meet,
they part,
the liquid flows down his throat.
I rest my head against the bars
our souls united as surely as
our hands are clasp
and our hearts collide,
such a power is a kiss.

EPILOGUE - (From the eyes of a stranger)

It was he who found them.
Walking down those lonely stairs
as he went the corner round.
First noticing the flask
tipping precariously from her hand
liquid seeping in the creviced floor.
He saw them.
Two souls lost within each ones embrace.
Only the cold steel of the bars between them.
As he drew nearer
a recollection, a recognition,
he had seen her before.
It was his starstruck nymph.
A vision of perfection,
a dream perhaps, he thought neigh
brought to him that night of nights.