Ten nights from now, we’ll get our timing right. My eyes
will light fire sooner; your heart will slow its flight.
When a hundred nights have passed, we’ll hold each other tight,
laughing at our clumsy start and how it took us by surprise.
A thousand nights will come and go, and every sun will rise
with you beside me on the bed, and laughing in the light.
When we have claimed our love again on our ten thousandth night
We’ll bank the fire of our lives and, smiling, close our eyes.
Our lives will long have ended, our bodies turned to dust,
when lovers swear our names for luck in a hundred thousand nights.
And when a million nights are done, our names alone will rise,
ciphers with all meaning gone, and our enchanted spirits lost.
But now, tonight, turn back to me and I will share your nights,
bring laughter to your fleeting heart and passion to your eyes.
David Milley
