* Don’t Whisper That Good Night
By Carmen Ruggero

Whith thanks to Dylan Thomas for the inspiration.

Don’t you dare just fade out of sight!
An ambiguous exit is not your style.
Proud, indomitable, your mind unbent
by persuasion of any kind;
inflexible, cruel -- kind at times,
yet always your own;
never afraid to speak aloud.

Don’t you dare just fade away:
To walk from light to misty gray,
looking right through me
as if I were glass;
denying my presence, rejecting my touch.
Crimson the rage that burns my spirit!
You should have the nerve to turn your back.

You’ve concealed you passion well, and now
you, who gave me breath, your own
blood – my blood, my life,
gut my shell with honed indifference,
oh, no! you will not melt as ice!

We’ve differences to settle.
Words you’ve spoken cut through my heart;
replies hang from my tongue –
halted by your stabbing stare.
You wouldn’t have listened had I spoken
then. You need to hear me now,
before the night falls, quickly,
please hear the verses from this frail heart.

I’m not vapor. I’m not air. I’m not glass.
Like substance flows through your vessel
as it does through mine; see the likeness
in our spirit, see me first,
then face the light, and claim your peace.
Stand up and shout your final goodbye:
Don't you whisper that good night!

Carmen Ruggero .2003 & 2004

* “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”  by Dylan Thomas