S.KRAUSE

Horizon

She waits alone in a tower
by the sea
overlooking the waves and foam

Upon a cliff
so far and distant---
a place to where no boat can set sail

I dream of her
so far away
at the horizon of my mind's eye

As the sun rises,
casting golden light upon her brow,
she stands to face the dawn

The day peaks
and the sun reigns supreme;
she smiles and welcomes the warmth

When finally the sun retreats
the sky darkens;
the moon mirrored in her bottomless eyes

I dream
and in my waking visions i visit the tower
knowing that she will never visit my reality

The sea separates us
and i stand upon my own cliff
waiting one day for a ship to take me away

I wait for that day
when the ship will come
and set sail to the land beyond the horizon

I wait for the day when my dreams
and her reality
reach out and embrace one another.

---

Notes: This poem came to life one evening at college and treats the subject of a far off, unattainable ideal that achieves form only in dreams and those fleeting moments before dawn. The picture of a tower or person standing on a cliff, overlooking the sea, is one that has stayed with me ever since viewing the 1988 ``horror'' flick Paperhouse one evening with several other exchange students in a hotel in eastern Idaho during the 1992 Rotary District Conference.