The seconds are a burden,
so heavy
with joy
when I am with you.
As if each moment
is full
to overflowing.
I feel that my heart
cannot stretch that far
or hold up
so much.
But away from you
seconds are but a shadow,
thin, frail, empty things.
As if nothing is alive
or buzzing with portent
and possibility.
Like a cloud
had come between me
and the sun.
But near you again
all that depth,
the delicious,
heavy weight of love,
comes rushing back to me.
With a joy
so heavy
I feel I might break
under the soft lightness
of the life you have given me.
--Valentine's Day 2007
