[Eleanor]: 668.Contest entries.Concerti.September 2007

         The Fantasy and the Reality

             In my mind
             our bodies entwine
             like sinewy adders
             and creeping vines
             our souls unite
             our breath is one
             we move together
             like a snow-white swan
             gliding on the lake
             under silver moon-glow
             one swan above
             its reflection below.

               ***

             We are not one
             and never shall be
             for though I love you
             and you love me
             we cannot entwine
             we are kept apart
             by other claims
             on our aching hearts
             the man you married
             the girl I adore
             our love is friendship
             never more.

               ***

             How can we live
             knowing our fate
             the love we’ll never
             consummate
             neither to embrace
             nor kiss tenderly
             or join like the swan
             on a moonlit sea
             feeling the ache
             of love unfulfilled
             a fantasy only
             tinged with guilt.