Jump to new as of December 22, 1999
Joy
Posted on Tuesday, 14 December 1999, at 9 : 25 p.m.
You catch me sometimes staring at your face
as if my eyes are trying to record
a memory in my mind that I can hoard
and save,that heartless time will not erase.
We sit together in this quiet place,
the silence soft, in gentle sweet accord
your image fixed within my heart, assured
that it will rest forever, full of grace.
For when those lonely nights stretch dark and chill
down endless, empty years and I'm afraid,
I shall recall the memory of you here.
The fearsome phantoms of the night will fade
and sweetness fully flood my soul, until
my heart is filled with joy, for you are near.
Cleopatra Revisited
Mindful, ever mindful how she looks
colouring her hair, once a month at least,
she conjures images of heroines from books
and dreams old myths, the ritual wedding-feast.
Guinevere she might have been. Perhaps
Diana bathing naked in a stream
or Cleopatra, weaving countless traps
to snare her Antony in willful scheme.
But each deceit, like layers of a cloth
unravels to reveal the hidden truth.
Burning the mirror as flame burns a moth
the incandescent fire of her youth.
It matters not. She stares and with faint smile
remembers ancient Egypt and the Nile.