Another

Since
We met
There has been
No one
Else
For me but you
Took
Another
And came
To regret
It.

************

By the River

I sat on the banks of the darkening river,

By the broad, slow stream, where the water runs deep,

And the grasses of Autumn grew over my heart,

Entangling me, rooting me there.

I saw the leaves fall to the journeying water,

And felt the cold wind on my hair and my cheek,

And I heard the night-song of invisible birds,

In the reed-choked marsh by the shore.

I watched the dull flames of a fire in the night,

And I smelled its decay in the vanishing smoke,

And I heard the low boom of the scattering wind,

As it whirled the white ashes away.

I tasted the fruit of the tree where I sat,

And the rich, red, flesh of Eve’s breasts filled my mouth,

And my tongue sucked the juice that was bitter to drink,

Of fecundity turned to decay.

I saw the bright moon rise into the blackness,

Where she hovered, alone and unsure,

And I saw how her light fell all over the world,

And dissolved it in shimmering dreams.

I felt the first shock of the gathering storm,

And the icy-cold waters that lapped at my waist,

And the river which took me so lightly, so gently,

Embracing me, drawing me down.

In the flood of the night, in the wind and the rain,

And the beating of waves on the shore,

I surrendered completely, utterly, finally,

To the love of the fathomless dark.

************

Sleep

At night—no empty bed,
But warmth, and weight, and touch that knits the sleep,
Entwinéd limbs, soft breathing,
Until the dawn reveals your face.

************

No Self

Ye deaf and blind!

Your senses closed to Paradise before your face,

When will you let

The self leave off, and merge

With all that is?

Each second gone,

Each jewel moment lost for ever.

No going back!

But therein lies its bliss

For those who live at one.

Mind made, this world,

No here, no there,

No up, no down,

No you, no me,

As in a dream,

Struck dumb.

Body and mind dropped off.

Who knows what is, or why?