• Seventeen nights of mindless joy
    Each one of them with you.
    Eighteen days of a cockerel’s cry
    Morning, noon, till night of moon.

    Seventeen hours of pure sweet bliss
    Lying here on the white hot sand
    Sleeping soundly until the kiss
    That wakes me to take your hand.

    Seventeen times I whispered here
    In autumn light your skin does glow
    The warmth of your heart draws me near
    And cools my anger like light white snow

    Seventeen steps until the door
    That opens to bare a glittering cove
    On marble steps and earthen floor
    You carried me on the strength of love

    Seventeen lies I have now told
    To keep you smiling and dry of tears
    So brittle and fragile but yet so bold
    A sheet of glass against my fears

    Seventeen paths stretch to the horizon
    Choose one and follow, my dear sweetheart
    Crumbs of bread upon the stone
    To lead you home, here at the start

    Seventeen years I have waited alone
    Whispering your name into the air
    Before I turn soulless, just skin and bone
    Let me touch your face so fair

    Seventeen dreams I have seen of you
    Nightmares of darkness, wrath and stone
    Whispers of horror and skin dead blue
    An angel tells me you have gone

    Seventeen shadows haunt my mind
    Footprints marked where you have been
    Guilt and anger are what I find
    Since your pain I had not seen

    Seventeen sunsets until the day
    You were born, screaming in grief
    In existence, for those who pray
    So life may not be so brief

    Seventeen tears I have let fall
    Over your body, so cold and still
    Frozen in sadness, thoughts and all
    The things I’d said in a silent chill

    Seventeen miles I have now travelled
    Alone and broken without a voice
    To keep my body whole and ravelled
    Show me a light, a sign, a choice.

    Seventeen stars I named with you
    In the farther reaches of space and sight
    One does shine so bright and true
    Until my soul does leap in flight

    Seventeen memories I hold inside
    Your face, your eyes and flowing hair
    Wind may blow and birds may glide
    But you and I are an eternal pair.