Let Go

I have let go of
My reaching out to you;
And your warmth in bed;
And otherwise, too.

I have let go of love;
And love has let me go;
I doubt there’s greater pain
Than that of feeling so.

I have let go of a past,
With no great regrets;
I have let go of how soon
Every man forgets.

I have let go of dreams;
Because mine are strangers,
With no wealth or power;
But different dangers.

I let go of being betrayed;
Of not being caressed;
I let go of the intimacy
That promises professed.

I have held lives I loved,
In the palm of my hand;
And made the decision,
You may never understand.

I have let go of ash
From the bodies I burned;
And let the sea have those
For whom I yearned.

When I’ll let go of hope,
I’ll give up the last part of me,
Then will there never be,
A speck left for you of me.

The Beginning

It starts with little things:
A shout in a conversation,
A caress shrugged off,
A turning away in sleep,
Or a small promise
One forgot to keep.

It starts small:
A forgotten holiday,
Or a hug once a day,
A letter never written,
Or a word one needed to say.
A refusal to touch
After all,
Speaks more than words
By not sleeping much.

It starts quietly:
No great feeling of loss,
Just a tingling warning,
A squinting of the eye,
The littlest lie,
And then there is
Destiny’s pulling back,
As it starts to die.

Do Not Touch Me

Don’t touch me,
If you do not want to.
I am more than
My love for you.
It may be full,
It can be blind,
It is what elsewhere
You will never find!

I am beautiful
And I am kind;
I have a heart;
I have a mind;
I am my body
And though it wants you –
Do not touch me,
If you do not want to.