The Kiss Never Happened

You were the faint sight on a far off isle,
Your hair blowing wild in the salty ocean breeze,
The apparition I wanted to grasp for my own,
The woman....the one I knew I'd never see

I would clutch in the enveloping darkness,
A pretty ghost with a faintly mocking but enchanting smile
A siren for which I would gladly give the world
Because you had becalmed my ship with guile

I cared not that it would be fatal
Nor a whit that I'd drink to death, alone and apart;
I could never wrench you from my mind,
Because you had already taken my heart

It was a mystery of infinite beauty,
A woman without compare
The oceans could not contain you
No chains would bind you here

You were free to leave on the evening wind
The tide could take you anywhere,
But you lingered as if you had mouthed an excuse
To touch my face with a kiss we shared

Now it seems that the kiss never happened
And I look as a man in a devil's trance
No embrace is left for me to treasure now
No trace of the woman or that wondrous dance