Stunned

Dear, my
Deer in the headlights
startled by this deep desire…
Did my fire
Frighten you away
Into thick forests
Where you stay
& hide your gentle light
from my sight?

I am no mountain cougar
Crouching in your tracks
To pounce
& wreck your regal gait.

I am the tracks you left behind
I am the flower in the wood
I am the cloud drifting above
I am the falling drops of rain,
Shedding tears for your lost love
I am the babbling brook
Beckoning you:
come & rest & drink

Yet now, here rushing to the brink
Of a crashing waterfall
logic lost in this boiling need
I wonder:

Did my rapids spook
Your prancing hooves?
Do you dash back to a forest cabin
Where the hunter hangs his racks
Of tethered loves?
Would your startled eyes
Spy an escape
From this petrifying vision
of my water
Falling, crashing, diving
Into your bedazzling eyes?
Need i withdraw
That you might find a calm
Then will you dare
Retrace your wary steps
Back to my thirsty banks?

I wait
I will wait
However long it takes
I will wait
for your caution to find its rest
for your heart to find a nest
for your story again to bless
my waiting hungry days
with the trust of you.