Breathless

This is a poem I wrote on October 10, 1986. It was mainly for myself, about a hard decision I had made - to end my month-long relationship with Keith. His life outside of sleeping and work was at the only gay bar in town. I wanted to live my life as a gay man outside of the closet; he seemed content to stay inside.

Breathless

To catch a gentle wind,
Breath of the Earth;
To feel the soft wet kiss
Of sweet rain on lips,
For even a brief part
Of the shortest eternity
Is as divinely impossible
As touching the fiery heart
Of the most distant star.

But I have done this.

And perhaps again,
In a different world,
I will do so once more.

And yet will I release the breeze
When my heart dares not continue
To bind the dying wind.

For happy am I in heart and soul
To have caught the wind,
And happier yet
That I could return its freedom.