Before Departure

We would have danced and kissed
And it would have been beautiful
And the humdrum and the orchids
Would've been the same

We would of slept like babes sleep
And could of dreamt like widows
In passages like starred ellipsis in books

We would have drowned in spirits
Together, sodden sots together,
barely remembering to move
And missing with our kisses

But we would of loved each other
Not quite forever, but what is that?
And ended it with memories
Of tea and of ginger cake

And of sitting in telepathic silence
Beating time with the drums
Of our tongues

And we would not have mentioned
The dawning of autumn

We would have crept up on moments
Like that they
Were unfaithful disciples
And throttled them with a firm grip

And we would have skipped the ends of parties
And with impunity bugged the hooded youths
And slept cuddling in gutters

And enticed the disapproval of our families

We would have fought
Toothless battles for better
Sentiment and have made it all
Much better after

And we would have stolen the covers off of each other
Woken, spooning, smelling of
The orchids