Returning Melodies

Alone, aloof,
standing on the margins
of a love-song,
a stream of sonorous wavelets
softly soothing my ears;
a truth in the beat of each refrain,
a lie in the echo of every note,
point and counterpoint,
wish and fear, a balance
of delicate contraries;
a temptress: beckoning me,
to splash in its icy wake
to cuddle in its warm embrace
and be whole again...
And I, now a careful coward,
wary of lingering melodies,
dithering, paused awhile,
allowed, for once,
for this one day
the music-flood to swell,
sang, "Ah well, what the hell..!"
and let myself be swept
far, far, far away...