The Cherished One

[poe]

She awaited him
straightened the bath towels
dusted his night table
but not her own.
She prepared for him a fine lunch in their modest kitchen.
After he ate he did as was his wont. He adjusted himself to his liking.
Though she was too warm he kept the air conditioner on low
because he was used to getting cold easily.
She waited until he was in that deep slumber to raise the temperature
to cool enough for her comfort.
As he enjoys a pleasurable nap
She awaited as he slept
affectionately, adoring his cheeks, bones that draw a perfect line upon his perfect chin,
He'd said: “beauty lies between the
lines of rigor.”
She sweats his absences, tossed off
like a reluctant swig of rum
She eyes the soft hills and valleys of his cherished vest
beseeching the all powerful one to confirm her vaulted wish
like a cathedral of dreaded lies
impossible to tear down his arched silences
abyss of empty space
How much more beautiful he had become over a decade and a half
desire cured like the deepest cherry garnet in her heart.
As it rises and slumbers his chest holds a core of molten desire
yet she still wonders, like that first week they had met
what it was that he might be thinking.