If my heart could swim in fire
if I could go back to that fateful time
and beg you not to be for just one day
the driven fierce angel you are
If I could tell you what you already suspected to be true
that the daring dance was not unfolding
petals one by one instead were torn
until the blood red rose was ruined
But nothing could unbind you from
the love that drove your racing heart
no-one could persuade you just to walk away
And so that night I dreamed you could not hold the curve
but took instead a path beyond my reach
at least in that last lap which brought
the billions breaking to their knees
Simply the best unfading bloom
is now caressed beneath your final falling gaze
And so I go there when I can
where white doves brush the shadows
from the light that holds you still
and my soul reclines in yours
as if at home for the last time
[MBR/for Ayrton, 1/5/2024]
From StarDreaming: Letters from a Mystic to a Science Fiction Author [Collective Ink Books, London, UK, 2026]