Mottled Memories, Bottled Thoughts

The phone rings morosely, tring…triiiing, and acquires urgency with each new triiiiinnnngggg. The silence between rings sounds painfully loud. My pulse keeps pace with the guttural electronic sound, a gentle trot at first, then a mild canter. The sound sounds light years away, like the memory of her. How will she respond when she picks up the phone?

I close my eyes.
What will I say?
What can I say?

Think of those nights and days. Was it only three months ago? A fragment in time, feels like eternity.

Poetry mingled with passion, feelings ran amok.
Saints cavorted with sinners, emotions came unstuck.

Gentle sound of laughter, quirky smiles,
Thoughts spoken and unspoken, words uttered without guile.

The words tumbled out carefully when she read poetry to me. In slow motion, like an exquisite sequence of steps, images assembled in my head, strung together like pieces of coloured confetti. Eyes vacant, staring at the white wall. Mouth agape, a smile frozen in place. Nostrils wide open for a whiff of her breath. Skin tingles with anticipation.

She finishes and turns to me, quizzical look on her face. Two separate glances meet. A moment of silence.

Questions? Answers.

She throws her head back and laughs. Hair sways in lockstep. Body shakes in gentle titter. Looks up at me: How was it? I would love to tell her, but words cannot express, neither hands describe, emotions cannot come together, nor joy transcribe. Moments of ecstasy, movements in space, the rising crescendo of musical notes, accompanies two bodies frozen in time.

---------

She once said,
Some things are best left undefined!
Some people are best left un-understood!
Some spaces are best left unexplored!
Some feelings are best left untouched!
Some wounds are best left unhealed!

Questions? Still no answers.
The phone rings, Still no answer.