as she was still sleeping

she had slept soundly already, her breathing as calm as ever, a warm draft on a cold evening. her lips gently clasped and her eyes unassumingly fazed already in a dream-like state, she was almost like a young child cradled between a mother's arms - akin from the bed she's lying on. the more innocent she looked, the more i could not take my eyes off her. and the more i could not stand to love someone as delicate-looking as her, sleeping ever so comfortably and trusting that none may come against her.

my hand could only go so far as to unravel the angelic face slightly hidden by a few strands of hair that managed to straddle to cover her. her cheeks still held traces of a prior's sadness, yet her lips had already managed to draw a smile before succumbing to sleep. it was a cold night.

the unbearable lightness of her slumber now managed to awaken a slow stirring inside me - as it gradually heightened and agitated my senses - could i still love. the demands that the world has apparently placed on my shoulders far outweighed the image of this young girl and the ability to ever place myself in a precarious position as intimacy.

she was sleeping soundly still. she seemed to have twitched for a gentle touch of comfort, of affirmation that i was still there to keep watch over her. naked as she was in the comfort bosoms of her bed, i could only watch in loving contrition thinking...