The candle flickers on the restaurant table, br Shadows lie across the menu listing br Spicy rice and chutneys we are able br To taste in silence, both our eyes resisting br Intimacy we’ve bitten in our lips; br A lifetime’s truths and treason we must hide br As even candlelight can not eclipse br The light that conversation would provide. br br Another couple nearby shamelessly br Gaze at eachother: he loquatious, talks br To hide his lustful motives; blamelessly br She listens, smiles as if agreeing, stalks br With creeping hand his careless fingers, seeming br As if she wasn’t waiting for his hot advance… br He strokes her patient palm and says that dreaming br Had not prepared him for this true romance. br br We eavesdrop, voyeurs, as they unaware br Lighten our burdened hearts; released we smile br One to the other, as two colleagues share br A secret, and superior awhile br To all the world, we let ourselves direct br Our eyes to one another, surface glance br That we will feast on, greedily connect br A moment, then return to routine trance. br br 12.20.