-- Gazing into Each Other’s Eyes –

John Herlihy

We looked deep in each other’s eyes,

We each had a beaming, smiling face.

We saw nothing that we could despise,

Nothing that together we could not face.

We continued to look deeper and deeper,

Mutual falling into sure arms, protected.

Days gone that were bleaker and bleaker,

Old loneliness that is now simply rejected.

We continued to smile as I put finger to lips,

I signaled for silence to preserve our mood.

Such happiness to be supped with tender sips,

No need to anything in our world to allude.

Then, an unusual thing unexpectedly occurred,

We both suddenly, mutually, began to cry.

Eyes watered as everything we saw blurred,

Strange whispers emerged with every sigh.

Again, I raised my hand, invoking silence,

Honest emotions should always be set free.

Our love tender, merciful, in compliance,

You can be simply you; I can be simply me.

The tears now gone, but the rivulets still there,

Our memories, like lace intimately intertwined.

Certain memories linger that we can still bear,

To lead into the future, our hearts to deeper bind.

Eventually we calmed down, stood there stock still,

Eyes gazing at each other again intimately content.

There, something lies within us, a free act of will,

We choose each other, as our love seals the assent.

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(c) John Herlihy 17 April 2020