By Bill Smith
I can’t put you into rhyme
you live and breathe beside me
inside me and around me
our homes are one
We anticipate each other’s words
say the same simultaneously
compete over crosswords with caustic curses
end each day with a tender caress
When the ice-curtain falls between us —
as sometimes it does —
I howl and hide forsaking the world
waiting for my sun to shine again
When it does I dance
happy in the light of your lasting love.
Bill Smith is a political scientist and social policy administrator from Belfast. During Northern Ireland’s Troubles he worked for the Health Department supporting voluntary action and community development. Most of his previous writing has been in academic or mandarin-speak. Recently 70, he celebrates this among his first published poems.