A warm summer's breeze filled the gallery halls,
And I stared at framed faces, upon whitewashed walls,
Countenances conceited, setting my spirits to fray,
But yours ethereal, and desiring me stay.

No stranger was I to vile Venus's arms,
And I'd thought myself weary of her poultice and charms,
But your azure blue eyes swept me far out to sea,
And your ivory smile, so enthralling to me.

With pallet in hand, you painted fishes and leaves,
And I smelled wildflowers, felt the wind in the trees.
You bound me there further, with each stroke on the wall,
Odysseus, was I, to your sweet Siren's call.

Captured, enraptured, I slowly passed by,
A prospector seeking your glimmering eye,
Lost love's languid lesions bleeeding red on my breast,

Introductions all scattered, and stuck in my chest.
Your lips in a smile, it was you said "hello,"
A deft Juliet, and a dumb Romeo,
Making small talk of nothing, as young paramours do,
My sole hope then being to experience you.

The days flowed like riders on celestial trains,
Pretending us elephants on the African plains,
Not knowing that poachers had cast their lots in,
To rob you and I of our ivory grins,

And I smelled wildflowers, felt the wind in the trees,
While another reclaimed you, brought me to my knees
But I'd willed you free will; a benevolent Locke,
Losing his love to a dour d'Holbach.

And I smell wildflowers, feel the wind in the trees,
My body a stranger to all but the breeze,
A marionette bound by the strings of despair,
Your ivory smile now shining elsewhere.