Years, Miles (1999)
	For Aung San Suu Kyi

     by Wilda Morris

how many years can you love
across miles    across borders
with visas denied    letters censored
tapped phone lines crackling?

how many nights do you toss
alone in your bed yearning
for the hand which once touched
your cheek    for the warmth
of his body next to yours?

how many mornings do you awaken
from dreams drenched in sweat
and smiles    only to discover
he is not there after all?

how many meals do you eat
not tasting    mouth hungering
only for his mouth    eyes
devouring his photo on the wall?

how do you grieve when he’s buried
half a world away and you
cannot go    unless into exile
another kind of burial	  your own?