The call

 

You must be fast asleep

Oblivious that I call

In the deepest deep

of night -- your name.

Can you hear me in your dreams,

or like the crowds, pass by

when a lunatic screams?

I am as lonely as the moon

when the stars are far away and dark.

My beams in vain go and try to reach

through the window bars, and caress each

sweet eyelash on your cheek.

So you laugh at me, you mock?

I am of mushy decadent romantic stock?

Why then, I will not deny

I wear my heart upon my sleeve

Though from what appears you may 

                                              not believe

That I may have baseless fears,

That I may weep futile tears

When loneliness torments and uncertainty rears

its dark silhouette on the pale window pane.

You cannot hear me cry out,

No?  Not even in nightmares?

So shall I ring your doorbell

On the telephone?

Then you will hear

Though I am not near.

Please do not set me so free

Like a kite in stormy winds,

but hold onto the string

lest I be strangled on some tree.

A free bird sings best

On a branch or in its nest.