red candlelight
Kerala midnight moon
onyx hair streaming
a dancer hovers:
illusive,
forlorn,
vulnerable…
eyes dodging her ancestral heart
fighting back history’s oppressive tears,
years serving without being served,
endless dedicated hours
nighttimes teeming in overwhelmed solitude
now cloudless dawn
pristine doves coo
thru a half open window
the chill air softens
the hush of a breeze
nearby a poet abound with words struggles,
inside bated breath swells his body:
“…I have seen my love…”
and the same singular morning light
magnifies her lucid dance
supreme,
infinite,
sincere,
alluring:
“…I have tasted my love…”
as if inside a lost dream realized,
an emerald sari drapes across her poised shoulders,
veiled hair now wild
casting a wended path,
beckoning her lover to her heart…
“and she moved to me
drapes of green gold silk lowered,
then discarded,
as my impatient marrow
drank deeply from my lover’s rite”
(a spirit disclosing clarity
dark eyes powerful, vibrant,
music pulsating throughout her body,
hips drawing strings from her spirit
as her poet singing plainly,
with Scribes and Goddesses witnessing):
“perhaps once through intoxication
you appeared,
dazzling black Andalusian gown
firm at the waist,
ornate magenta lace shawl waving,
jeweled bracelets tinkling,
ghungroo ankle bells astonishing,
all sheltering your hidden charms…
candlelight lady,
I have tasted your torment
visited your dreams
explored your heart
drank deeply from all of you,
I am grateful
but offer no words
to break those chains…
from where they came
so must they leave”
then as the first light dawned
all spoken visions of each other were erased,
as the space between had waned
shrinking jasmine and primrose
thirsting for another time,
this unending struggle they must endure,
aspire to survive
to at last dance eternal
as lovers must,
to strive as we must
July, 2016