I fear to drape you in veils
dyed in the various shades of night
that, paper-thin and vulnerable,
yet bear the leaden weight of the world's iniquities.
I would rather swaddle your mind in robes
of colours that dazzle and blind
of silken fantasies woven with images of gods and animals
and clasps studded with the drunken gems of escape.
To hold the delicate balance of another is to truly fear.

Fearless she rides along the vast lines of juniper bushes
that skirt the unforgiving cliff edge.
Shadowless the horse glides through the noon wind
and scoffs at the hot breath of exhaustion.
Impressionless the music of the insatiable waterfall cascades
drumming softly and inexorably on the patient boulders below.
Aimless the eagle courts the laziness of midday
and scorns the thermals for the challenge of stillness.
Heedless the azure god climbs across the horizon
dragging behind him a web of delusion.
Soundless my heart skips several beats at once
and rolls across the vicissitudes of novelty.

On a good day you might notice the sharp bend in the sea gull's wing,
But then again you might forget the warmth of palm pressed against palm.