Haunted By Beauty

I walk about the busy streets and see the myriad faces amidst their duty
The damp air and acrid scent of the sweltering proletariat
Vivifies my sensibilities with a repugnant reminder of the workaday life
But somewhere in the crowd, an enrapturing face arrests my sight and I lose all sense of self
Sometimes it happens in the dawning hours of the day
As I make my way through the hustle and bustle to till the hay
At other times it catches me at dusk as I stride home after a laborious day

But even more timely, it happens in the awkward moments
When I am least accustomed to expect it
Just when I feel my soul sinking beneath the heavy load of existence
A pleasantly beauteous face flashes a captivating smile
A beatific scene throws me into a state of rapture
Or a melodious voice from somewhere says ‘hello’
And I am pierced and wounded anew!

Pierced by the perennial ache that stalks me day and night
Wounded in heart at the exact spot where you wielded your magic
Wounds that opens up to reveal my familiar assailants
The unyielding trio who break through the iron bars of my hardened heart
To wreck a havoc of extreme pleasure and intense pain
My fractious soul is flooded with a molten torrent of Longing
I find myself immersed in a lava of Nostalgia and swarmed by a deluge of Desire

A Longing for what might have been – An increase being; A rest in your arms
Nostalgia for those few and rare moments when I was afforded a tiny glimpse into your soul
Desire for a dream… a hope… the whisper of a thrill… a promise
A promise of something yearned for in my younger years; that remains unknown still

In such moments of merciless assault from Longing, Nostalgia and Desire
I am swept in an ocean of memories and fantasies but in the noise of the waves
A silent voice reminds me that all I’m really missing is you
Oh yes! I am haunted by beauty; I am haunted by YOU!

--- Daniel Ekow Arhin Buckman. ---