A Goodnight Kiss

Before I left her to go home,

Leaving each of us alone,

My fingers curved her parting lips,

Those gentle lips which touched my own.

Appreciation for the day?

A “Thank you” for taking her away,

From the hum-drums of a routine day?

For companionship and a “Come again,”

Or a “Goodbye, please, this all must end,

   Before it even starts.”

Or a kiss she let herself permit,

With thought I had expected it,

Perhaps this day had been too long,

And a kiss would hurry me along,

If her eyes glistened with the stars,

Nor moonbeams bouncing from passing cars,

Then the goodnight kiss would be a kiss of love,

And I was afraid to look into her eyes

   At that moment.