The Secret in These Pages

I hide you in my poetry
in my simple lines of verse
between the subjects and the adjectives
you’re the stanzas in which I’m immersed
Only I can see you
‘cause no one knows you’re there
But I breathe you in every word I write
in my joy and in my despair
It’s how I keep you close to me
despite the distance that’s between us
I feel your touch, take in your scent—
here there’s nothing to divide us

Find yourself within the titles
in the chapters, on the page
wrapped in silky language
you’re veiled in my wordplay
I secret you away
between the spaces and the lines
It’s a clever little camouflage
and no one will know the signs
You’re in the curve of every letter
you’re the foundation of every word
you’re the syntax and the rhyme scheme--
and I will not be deterred
And if you listen closely
even tone does play a role:
it whispers my intentions
that my words would touch your soul
The ink from my black pen
will play a clandestine part:
it’s my accomplice, my abettor
to scribe the words to steal your heart

And when from earth I am long gone
but my poems should still remain
these verses of my love for you
will through time forever reign
So I’ll hide you in my poetry
and I’ll keep you close to me
bound together by these odes
for all eternity