The Lovers
This silence is not the silence
of the vast space between the stars.
Neither is it the silence
of the dim grey light before the dawn.
This is the greater silence of lovers
that has no need of words.
A wide cloth, spread between two
as easily covering as removed:
a white membrane –
both birth-sack and winding-cloth
for past selves left far behind:
forever changed by these infinities
of transformation, gold and white
uniting in an alchemical wedding.
White queen, red king,
and all the world their court.
Glistening, new-formed:
these are no masks they wear
but their true selves
with all else burned away
in the white fire
of love’s simple existence.
For love has no need of masks
and acceptance is all
and everything.
The Lovers is such an exquisitely beautiful poem! I am in awe of the way the deep oneness between two people is described in the poem. This poem also has a strong mystical aura to it, consider "....these are no masks they wear but their true selves with all else burned away in the white fire of love's simple existence. For love has no need of masks and acceptance is all and everything." There is a hint of surrender to unconditional love, that is a love so pure it loves without expectation of anything. The image by David is very striking, exotic, and masterly. It seems to express both tenderness and friendship.
ReplyDeleteDear Joseph, yes, as you describe, what I wanted to express here is the love which goes beyond all borders. I believe that such love is the closest that there is (and that we can experience) to what we think of as divine love. So it follows that the closer we can approach this state, whether with a partner, or in our own relationship with our spiritual selves, the closer we draw to that experience of the divine. As I know you are aware, this is what the mystics describe, in deep contemplation or in meditation, pure love opens the door. Thank you also for your comment about David's painting, which so completely mirrors my words!
ReplyDeleteI love this line:
ReplyDelete"A wide cloth, spread between two
as easily covering as removed:
a white membrane –
both birth-sack and winding-cloth
for past selves left far behind:"
In all modesty, Marilyn, these are my favourite lines also and when I wrote them I hardly knew where they came from myself. But I do know that they seemed like a gift.
ReplyDeleteWhat amazes me is the mastery of your words.. to dance with such beauty when English is not your first language, and yet there you stand dancing inside of it.. so beautiful.. holy.. and sacred.. when you reach through space and touch me in the place of your heart singing, I feel like stardust with wisps swaying to your dance ♥
ReplyDelete