LYING THERE.

A MAN WATCHES A SLEEPING WOMAN WHOM HE LOVES.

Don't wake her;
let her sleep, let
her closed eyes be

her closed up kingdom,
her realm of dreams,
her loves and kisses

and gentle embraces
with lover unknown.  
See she sleeps. Wake

her not, let her time
of slumber be her one
glory, let her dreamed

tales tell her story.
I lay beside her, keep
my distance, listen to

her breathing song,
sense her peacefulness,
smell her scent, blow

her kisses from palm
to cheek, rest there in
silence watching her as

one in watch, as once
knights kept watch over
ladies fair, she sleeps on

unknowing I am lying there.