The Poetry Corner

Nearness

By John Frederick Freeman

Thy hand my hand, Thine eyes my eyes, All of thee Caught and confused with me: My hand thy hand My eyes thine eyes, All of me Sunken and discovered anew in thee.... No: still A foreign mind, A thought By other yet uncaught; A secret will Strange as the wind: The heart of thee Bewildering with strange fire the heart in me. Hand touches hand, Eye to eye beckons, But who shall guess Another's loneliness? Though hand grasp hand Though the eye quickens, Still lone as night Remain thy spirit and mine, past touch and sight.