I have sought you out for so long,

just the glimpse of you in the distance

I find, and over time I have echoed your song,

but you have kept away with terrible insistence.

How much longer will you keep me at arms subtle length

I mourn for you, I ache and I desire

what little resolve I have, that you will take my strength

for the blaze of damnation in your hands, in your forgiving fire.

Yet your black cloak, hood, sheer stockings allude me,

the ultimate embrace, the kiss of beauty

that lasts beyond the final star imploding

into fragments that mimic our dance, the love in the nettle sting

as I plead just once that this pain you ease

take me lady in black, hold my hand and kiss me please.

Ian D. Hall 2016