You.

For a brief moment, when time stood still, I felt my heart stop. The ticking clock above a copper framed Wheat Field on the olive green wall was soundless. The bees that hovered over the hibiscus grove beyond the olive wall in an untended garden, buzzed a violent silence. The whispering wind rustling in the frangipanis beyond the hibiscus grove suddenly fleeted into the earth. Raging traffic no longer passed the frangipanis like faded memories. Fishes in streams far from the traffic drifted in confusion as the waters paused and rocks on the river beds rolled no longer. Rays slept in timelessness as dolphins lost their bearings in the deaden ocean. No longer was there day or night for the Earth froze in place as the evanescing sun took with her the moon and the stars. The gods slumbered and demons fled the nether world. For a brief moment, time stood still and I felt nothing. For a brief moment I was nothing.

Everything around me faded to black.

Then, as suddenly as stillness enveloped my being, my sensory overloaded with every single nuance of existence. I felt the beating of my pulse as blood raced through every crevasse of my body; the tingle on my skin; the electricity raging through each and every neuron in my brain; the banging clock above a shouting copper framed Wheat Field on the olive green wall; the violent buzzing of bees over the hibiscus grove beyond the olive wall in that untended garden; the annoying wind rustling in the frangipanis beyond the hibiscus grove; the storming traffic that passed the frangipanis; fishes swarming the streams as rocks assaulted each other on the river beds; rays hunted through the endless clacking of dolphins raping Poseidon’s blows; the scorching sun; the glowering moon; the restless Earth; the thundering gods clashing in the heavens and malevolent demons cursing from hell.

Colours, vibrant. Sounds, clearer. Smells, cleansing. Taste, heavenly.

But time stood still. I stood still. My eyes fixated. My mind emptied but of one thought.

You.

Your soft curls resting on your lovely shoulders like soft pink satin sheets. Stars sparkle from your lovely dark eyes like the night sky in summer by the beach. Your eye lids fluttering like butterfly wings in a soft cool autumn breeze. Your sensuous lips glistening as you mutter sweet pleasant nothings. Your voice as soothing as the sound of La Vein Rose on violins while sipping on a glass of wine in Paris. Your skin tender like the soft brushing of a purple velvet curtain in a warm lit room after a romantic candlelight dinner for two.

I want to take your hand and hold it if only for a moment. To feel your touch, your soft skin on my palm. I want to dance with you, with your hand on my palm and my hand on the small of your back. I want to dance with you slowly as we gaze into each other’s soul while Elvira Madigan[1] brings us on a quiet boat ride in the evening sky.

Let us go then, you and I,

When the evening is spread out against the sky [2]

You.

You who would taste so sweet on my tongue as a fine glass of aged merlot. I would kiss your tender lips so slow as to savour that moment that I will forever remember how soft and warm they are. To feel your supple cheeks on mine as I would caress the nape of your neck and hold you like a newborn, fragile and delicate. I would whisper sweet words in your ears and your smile will light the space we are in so brightly that darkness would fade forever away. I would not let you go for you are to me very dear. I would want you in my arms forever to love and care for; and I would kiss you in the mornings and in the afternoons and in the evenings and before you slumber. I want to hold you as you fall asleep to the beating sound of my heart; you breath on my chest. I want to stroke your soft hair and keep you safe and warm. I will watch you as you dream dreams and when you wake I will still be there beside you greeting you with more loving kisses.

I will ward off your demons and battle your dragons. I will catch your tears and hide your fears. I will hold you close till the storm fades and the sun is smiling on your face. I will hold your hand and walk beside you through the every tides of time always with you. I will snatch falling stars out of the sky and place them back in your eyes. For you I will walk to the ends of the world and swim the deepest oceans just to be by your side.

No matter where you go, I will find you

If it takes a long, long time.

No matter where you go, I will find you

If it takes a thousand years. [3]

You.

You who gives me strength and will. You who give me life and reason to live. You who are my inspiration, my muse, my Calliope. You who are my burning paraffin in the dark. You who lifts me up and give me wings. You who are my friend and confidante. You who are my very soul. You and only you.

You.

The one who brings down my walls of Jericho. The one who weakened Samson. The David of my Goliath. My Cleopatra. My Juliet. My Eloisa.

So, come sit with me for awhile. Come speak with me for a moment. Give me a heartbeat of your time. Just for an instance, if only but a minute. If only for a moment, if only briefly, if I could be with thee, I would take you with me till my life’s end. My heart is yours till you want it no longer, and even then it is still yours to keep.

You.

[4] Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date;

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;

Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee

1. Elvira Madigan or Mozart’s Piano Concerto 21

2. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Elliot

3. Lyrics from "I Will Find You" by Enya with the Clannad

4. Sonnet 18 by William Shakesspeare