Love's Melody

she was standing much closer,
so close he could feel
her warm breath soft on his chin.
the room was full of people
and he should feel the agony of something
sharp pressed into his back,
but he sensed none of it—
the room was filled with her alone.
her face was intriguingly beautiful;
her clear blue eyes were
sparkling like large wet crystals;
and her voice,
almost a whisper,
was flat as a Kansas plain
and somehow musical,
like one long, endless note
played on an exotic instrument.
and soft—
so soft he longed to touch it
as a child might a butterfly’s wing.
but he only listened
because he could do nothing else.