The Year Long Kiss (A Reprisal)

once more year's end and remembrances
captured on the still water glass of my well
preserved faculty, echo in the manner of visions
cast unto fragmented depths, a dual faceted mind's eye.

in chestnut hue, majority of that inner iris,
play acts of an eagerly sought after awakening,
devised into scenes—individual longing given character
and speech.

(where might the ready path to fulfillment be
amid such wanting avenues, will ever i see
a sparing of my year long misery?

will my lips contentment be granted by thine
in those unseen lanes we'll garnish with rose and vine,
sip for sip will our breath entwine?

o, how wondrous it seems in speculation,
true embrace, the consummation,
but what truth in that declaration?

you bid me question not your intent,
but the absence of communion solely meant,
breeds fear that no respite awaits the twelvemonth ascent.)

then tones of moonless night, grim
brush strokes of predictable disenchantment
despite all that was exchanged, linger callously
upon this canvas, my being, for the kiss denied
through four more seasons of waiting.