Thoughts on North Brother Island
Did Mary have a lover?
Someone she couldn't hold?
A poor soul who loved her back
though never to be close?
Did they feel the other's
hot breath on their lips,
begging for a kiss?
Or skin inches away,
heat like a magnet,
aching for its own?
Did they sit across a room,
eyes greedily taking
what hands could never hold?
When did they give in?
How long did they last?
Did it mean his death?
Was it everything they hoped?
Or was Mary always alone,
trapped in her grey brick cell
in her home
on her island,
the cold her only lover,
its hands all she's known?
Did Mary have a lover?
Someone she couldn't hold?
A poor soul who loved her back
though never to be close?
Did they feel the other's
hot breath on their lips,
begging for a kiss?
Or skin inches away,
heat like a magnet,
aching for its own?
Did they sit across a room,
eyes greedily taking
what hands could never hold?
When did they give in?
How long did they last?
Did it mean his death?
Was it everything they hoped?
Or was Mary always alone,
trapped in her grey brick cell
in her home
on her island,
the cold her only lover,
its hands all she's known?
12/6/17