Longings, Constantine P. Cavafy

Like the beautiful bodies of the dead who never aged,
shut away inside a splendid tomb by tearful mourners
with roses at their head and jasmine at their feet—
that’s what longings look like when they’ve passed away
without being fulfilled, before they could be made complete
by just one of pleasure’s nights, or one of its radiant mornings.

Untitled (Patrick Swimming Hole), 2007, Brandon Herman