Two Poems For Lucy

Unable to sleep, I thought I'd share these two short poems about our dog, Lucy, that came to mind while I await the sandman's arrival.

I

The Puppy's warmth,
curled up in my lap,
puts me to sleep.
I'm not allowed to read a book
or simply sit; her long,
luxuriant warmth,
strecthed upon my chest,
or draped across my neck,
makes my eyes droop -
until I snore.

II

Why can't I sleep?
The Puppy's warmth,
snuggled next to me,
has no effect -
her delicious elixir of drowsiness
all spent up.
I toss and turn,
until,
divorced from rest,
I get up,
put my contact lenses in,
scratch my head
and begin to write.

Talk to you soon,

BB

Quote for the Day: Poetry is something more philosophical and more worthy of attention than history. (Aristotle)

Three Poems II

Entropy

It's not the fact that now you walk
with someone else. Nor yet,
that when you kiss, the pain and pleasure
etched upon your face
ripples through the space-time of my love.

It's not the fact that memories of love
grow cold. Nor yet,
that when I think, the image of your face
slowly decays, and carbon-14 dates the time
when you and I -

The prehistory of my heart leaves no trace.
It's only when I wake
and fine her here, cradled in my arms,
I know the thing:

a white dwarf,
dying amid the matter of itself,
outward bound.


Sentinel

What could be more innocent than this?
Love's terrible beauty,
measured in your body's form,
lies next to me.

My arms enclose your waist;
your quick, silent breaths,
patterned to the rhythm of your dreams,
encircle me.

The texture of your tongue and mouth,
the perfume of your hair,
the warmth of eyes now closed
and dwelling on your dreams -

I keep them close, sacred and loved.
Precious one, this is why I lie awake
tonight: to see your aching loveliness,
so vulnerable, yet safe.


Amateur

Dark shapes
hunched against the night:
man and telescope,
we gaze into the sky,
hoping what we find
will resonate with truth.

Do we do this
thinking that we better humankind?
That if
we stare into the dark,
we'll find that point of light

familiar to us all?
Who thinks such thoughts
at times like this?
We see by light
refracted from the red,
the Doppler wail an old cadence:

the siren song of life.

Three Poems

Wish You Were Here

Launched from dreams to wakefulness,
I lay beneath the covers, listening.

The warmth between my arms was empty air,
the shades within my heart

shadows of your parting kiss.
Launched from wakefulness into my dreams,

I lay beneath the covers, listening:
rain against my window pane.


Kiss

I held you in my arms.
Your heart fluttered,
the captive bird held
within the circle of my love.

I felt the thrill,
the tremble in your bones.
The kiss was light,
yet shook you like a 'quake,

feet of clay. Were you scared,
or just afraid
I'd find the child
hiding in the dark?


In Absentia

I miss -

The eyes, the lips,
whirling,
falling into emptiness,

holding onto life
and joy
and love,

onto thought
and flesh
and time,
when time spent

passes like a winking eye,
like a smile:
fleeting, full,
thoughtful,

like the night,
like the bright
coloured light of dawn,
of the sun rising.

Like the morning sky,
like waking in each others' arms,
dreaming,
laughing, smiling.

I miss -

you!