Love Poem: Tell Me
Lebo Bopalamo Avatar
Written by: Lebo Bopalamo

Tell Me

A hazy sunshine fills the empty room 
The light creating a mixture of 
serene fog and dancing rays 
A figure forms in the haze 
floating on air 
and holding a staff with a golden head 
It waves the fog around into  
rainbow-coloured circles 
Some small, some big 
All concentric 
and encasing two shapes  
They radiate a lenitive breeze 
and the scent of roses 
I hear a slight rhythm  
emanating from its edges 
consuming all air in the room 
My lips fall dry,  
then moisten 
with a cinnamon taste 
My body quakes 
 
My teeth beat together  
ungracefully 
Stricken by terror and  
expectance at once 
I can feel the tightness around my waist 
as the two shapes embrace
as if caught in the hollow warmth
between them
Trickles of sweat 
run between my eyes
severing the rays

Bird calls ring through  
and start lining into inaudible verses 
My heart races and I start to quiver 
I’m blind, and deaf 
and covered by a warm sheath 
Tell me, my love 
Do you feel it too?