Delay

To find you in my thoughts, though now estranged,
Perhaps could have destroyed my last defense;
But eyes and scent remain in eloquence,
Still spinning through my dreams as though deranged --
And something of our partnership has changed,
Or may, perhaps, be only hope's pretense
To keep my heart bound tightly in suspense --
An unkind jest that unkind fate arranged.
A smile, a turn of head, a breath of air;
An orchid blossom resting in your hand;
Invisible, its petals hypnotize,
And beckon me to you all unaware --
Yet I forbear; perforce I understand
The time for chance is not yet in your eyes.