In this world
our mortal chains wear us down
but could the greater heights of heaven
be shared with you now?
For on this earth,
a lovers’ paradise have we made and shared
but in the greater heights of heaven
could a non-believer be spared?
Bound by our coils
we would dance until Death’s delight
but would that final hour
extinguish our love’s last light?
Cast out to paradise alone
I would to God’s mercy entreat
to spare my lover’s unbelieving
that to our maker we both could meet
A single moment;
Captured and framed in time:
Your naked body
Propped against the pillow;
Head tilted with curiosity
To one side
Watching me
Gaze at you
from the doorway
As you captured my nakedness
With a fierce tenderness
That could calculate infinity
I thought then
and I still think now
That
Your lips’ red
was as delicate
and sweet
as roses
turned towards the sun
Oh how I came undone
when they planted soft,
wet kisses on my cheek
to the rhythm of each heartbeat
Home is to sleep
Next to the milk of your bones
My soul is quietened; I am no longer alone
Sheltering in the shadow of your embrace
My fingers trace
The graceful curve of your hips
And my tongue your lips
Take me in your hands and wash me
In the juice of our love
For I know you understand
Time stretches us out
Pale and uncertain
Bathing us in a pool of memory
To cleanse the stain of yesterday’s tomorrow
And all that became hollow
This poem is dedicated to the late Welsh poet Nigel Jenkins.
You wrote your Death
On the periphery of Life
Unknowing that Death writes itself
In leaves that are turned over and over,
Even the lucky-leaved clover
Planted face-first into the ground, soil-dwelling forever
In that eternal Autumn
Whose blood-red leaves never ceased to fall
Caught on the wind in flight
As Death catches us all
You chose to observe from such great heights
And we watched you look down from above
Your best lesson to us in life that
The next greatest to Death is Love
From the moon of your face
Flow waves of bounteous desire
Emanating back and forth
Through flickering candle fire
Illuminating the flowering grace
Of your rose petal lips
That pursed in dreaming
Await to be kissed by
The pull of Gravity
That brings you back down to Earth
Awakening from sleep
As from the waters of your birth
I dig myself in so that my traces may you keep
In the heart of my moonflower, anchored crater deep
Floating over this salty skin
My mind wonders in waves, crashing against the shore
Contemplating if life could ever be as it was before
As these tears soak
The skin you kissed,
Its taste the sensation
You said you had always missed
But now the gain of our greeting
Is lost in sad goodbyes
Until under another sun
We will learn to run
Arm in arm again
Until under another moon
We will learn to heal the hearts
That broke too soon
Until under another sky
We will learn much more
Than just the simple touch of rain
We will lift up life’s sorrows,
To no longer drown in its pain
Goodnight my dearest one, goodnight!
We return to the place where dreams lie
But for now, it’s not goodbye
Not until the stars
That burn within your eyes
Begin to fade
And the tongue that speaks
Soft words of love
Suddenly has nothing to say
No, not until my arms
So full of life begin to weigh down
With the burden of Death
Carrying its reeking smell
Heavy upon me
Like an albatross around my neck
Nay, lover
You are to me as beautiful
As a small bird, frail and injured
In the palm of my hand;
I am there to protect,
You are there to understand
Life’s nature
Goes on insufferably
Until the day we die
But until that moment is upon us
Let us say goodnight
And not goodbye…
Eres el sol
Que brilla en mi ventana
Con tus rayos tan fuertes
Calientas mi alma
Soy la sombra profunda
Que te sigue
Te espero con calma
Cuando me pides
Tu pecho es la fruta
Que me da la energía de amar
Tu fuerza interna
Me ayuda a respirar
Como una madre que cuida a sus hijos
Me has acogido bajo tus alas
Esperando el día
En que puedan volar
Y aún en la tormenta
Sé que mi fe en ti aumenta
Mientras te tengo por dentro
En el oscuro silencio
Donde el amor no se encuentra muy lejos
Pero seguro en el fondo de mi corazón
El sitio donde las palabras se esconden
Nos encontraremos de nuevo:
Vivas y con el verano
Brillando desde tu cara
ENGLISH:
‘Rays of Love’
You are the sun
That shines through my window
With your rays so strong
You warm my soul
I am the deep shadow
That follows you
I wait for you patiently
For whenever you need me
Your bosom is the fruit
That gives me the energy to love
Your inner strength
Helps me to breathe
Like a mother who cares for her children
You have taken me under your wings
Waiting for the day
That they can fly
And even in the storm
I know my faith in you increases
While I hold you within
The dark silence
Where love is not found far
But safe in the bottom of my heart
The place where words are hidden
We will meet again:
Alive and with the summer
Shining from your face
Spots of sunshine
Fly over the page
The sun still shines
When there’s nothing to say
In the place where
Silence reigns supreme
I will still be with you
In the fragments of a dream
Swimming in shadows,
Sheltered by waves of peace
There you’ll find me
Scattered like autumn leaves
Under a tree in the shade
(Your eyes squinting to see
At what lies beneath)
Rolled out like parchment
My shapeless form stretches out, waiting
To be mapped by your hands
And coloured blue
In a sea of love that waits to kiss the land
In memory of Saint George
And she came to stay
On that fine Saint George’s day
For her, this mighty dragon lies slain
And from its spilt blood
Flowers a rose upon the grain
Shattered into pieces, scatter
Every inch of the beast
Jagged tokens of my love, my heart
Upon which you may feast
And grow the more splendorous
Budding into bloom
Telling the story of a lover’s beauty
That was to be sacrificed too soon
Catherine Lucy Rowland 