|
|
|
Love Poems The Spiritual Traveler
|
I Have Dreamt of Thee
To discover once more a line, a path
To skim the surface of a gleaming bay
To follow the sunset’s glowing fingertips
As they lightly press upon the waves
To hold, in exhilaration, the threads
Of a long-lost memory –
How much sweeter still is sleep, when I can say
On waking, “I have dreamt of thee!”
Your perilous eyes, your flowing hair
Like billowing clouds above the sea-spray
Your gleaming neck, like a ribbon
Of fine sand, amber on an azure day –
I press my fingertips against your lips
Like a seal of your virginity
Then I awake, and rise from where I lay
As if newborn, for I have dreamt of thee!
Who Was She?
“Who was she who rose like the dawn
Fair as the moon, clear as the sun
Terrible as an army with banners?”*
Who was she who smiled inscrutably
Tossing her dark mane when I asked her name
Smiting me so completely?
Woman by day, goddess by night
Who appears in my dreams, a source of delight
The nectar for which mortal men clamor –
In my bed, her smile I see
Burning like a beacon to ships lost at sea
Their sails billowing, taut with a sailor’s yearning
I have run toward the sun, flying
With the battle blazing behind
And, as the world watched, I salved my pride
Hiding in the shade of her eyes
Then, seeing her again
Her hands as big as those of a man
My love ran aground on the shoals that surround her
And I cried, “This…this is the enemy!”
Not she, innocent in all objectivity
But my mind, which makes its own war against me
Its visions fair as the moon, clear as the sun
Terrible as an army with banners!
The World Has Let Me Know You
The world has let me know you
The little I do
And I touch you
With what I feel to be true
You may hide from me what you can –
The very treasure of your nakedness
And your sweet perfume
And though one smile would light the world for me
I do not ask it of you
The burden you bear is your own
I do not seek it to share
For I know what your heartbreak and sorrow
Must be
I Met You In The Cold
I met you in the cold
In the winter covered with snow
When you sat on your doorstep
And cried
As if the world had left you
In my memory
Your form
Slumps against the frozen graveyard of the city
Tender from years of suffering
Once mine was the fierce, lawless struggle
Of a blond young man –
Across oceans of desert and sand I rode
And beneath me ran the sparks of enmity and war
But now comes the sunlight
And love is tempered
Like the North Wind entering the House of Spring
I Met You In The Winter
I met you in the winter
In the winter of love
When torment had turned our hearts rigid
As if to stone, and set
To follow the course of delusive Mind
Across a shadow world
In which we cried to be loved
Now we wake to find that all is real
The sun is real, my friend
The wind is real
All is to enjoy
A cool breeze brushes my cheek
Whispering softly –
A gentle wave
Upon which
Are borne all of life’s melodies
It comes into the heart like the dawn rising
It is benevolence
It is freedom
It is the sum of all writings
All teaching, and all sacred words
As I take this road again
It is washed by rain
The rain comes in torrents of tenderness
And leaves me with a feeling
Of never having been alone
Anywhere
On this earth
Today After So Long
Today
(After so long, it seemed)
I sat next to a girl who smiled at me
Today
(Years of waiting, it seemed
Was what made this moment so special to me)
I felt my feelings reach out
And they seemed to touch the skin of that girl
Who sat next to me
As she shyly seemed to steal glances at me
Years of waiting, it seemed
Had conspired to put in her eyes a gleam
That reminded me of my own self-esteem
And I smiled at her
And felt, in-between
The thrill of the game I was playing
So secretly
For today
(After so long, it seemed)
I felt like a man who is seen
In the eyes and the mind of a girl
As all men in the world wish to be seen
And the smile on the lips of the girl
Played like a song that is sung by the sea
As it sings to the wind, to the trees
And the song became a symphony
And I closed my eyes and was hurled
Upon waves that rose up from the deep
My feelings tossed by waves
That came from deep, deep within me
When I opened my eyes
She had changed her seat
At the Moment
At the moment when I realized
How small I really am
I felt the touch of your love
At the moment when I gave up
All my grandiose schemes and desires
I became a simple man
At the moment when I lost the game
I heard you laugh
And tell me I had won it
At the moment when I hung my head in shame
You showed me the way
To rise above it
At the moment when I was drained of hope
You pointed to a star in heaven
And said that it was mine
At the moment when my heart was bare and cold
You kissed me with your love
And gave me a reason to smile
Let Me Fly Into the Ocean
Let me fly into the ocean
Taking with me my wings
Let me fly into you and, self-propelled
Begin
To breed the birth of a new song
Why must this feeling rest
Until the dark night has descended?
In your house
Waits a kiss
And a touch
To last all our life long
I Turn to You in Darkest Night
I turn to you in darkest night
The wind is still
You make your bed warm for me
Yet I am cold
My trembling hand I do not feel
Where I wish to be I cannot find myself
Somewhere, where my heart resides
Noticing the clouds gone by
The chances missed
Passing by the windowpanes –
Amid reflections of regret
I think of who I am, and from whence I came
I turn to you in darkest night
The wind is chill
I am unafraid, and yet afraid –
Of what I cannot tell
Yet I must move with you
Must dip my mouth
Must mingle soul with body
In obedience to my will
Or stay the same
At This Moment When I Write
At this moment when I write
When memories, like russet leaves
Lie on the table top
Like a new lover in black velvet
(Someone whom I have yet to touch)
Her legs stretched out
Like candles with soft flames
I let the feelings come
Burying my words
Like a wave buries the dust
* * *
At this moment when I write
When memories are dim and cold
And the flames that once
Sprung round my scented bed
Are snuffed
And legs that once were twined
Like silken threads
Are lost among the linen’s folds
As the tide retreats, and leaves the strand
Bare and alone, so I must cease to care
And my tears dry up
*From The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco |
|
|
Date Submitted:
2001-06-19 00:00:00 |
Copyright Information:
Copyright © The Spiritual Traveler, 2001 |
|