Moonferrets

Meticulous midnight
         slivers of rain
running down the pane
         the sky awash
with a foam of stars

No love can stifle another
         no love can encroach
on the dreams of another
         through the transom
the tail of a comet
         hurtling through
unvanquished space

And he recalls
         the repercussive love
that flouted time
         that was a benediction
of the body
         a soul-resounding love
bound by the braided ropes
         of deep murmurless affection

Words laid out
         on an Irish linen cloth
lily petals defying
         the cool night air
the red loom of her hair
         the eyes darting
back and forth
         a knife a fork a cup a spoon
and all the credentials
         of beauty
fresh and fragile
         open and giving
defying the death
         we all carry within
our scheduled doom

No doomsday love
         no relapse into dust
but borne on the intimate pulse
         of restless tongues and lips and limbs
the teeth tearing up
         the useless facsimiles of time
beauty in the arms of the beholder
         kindred spheres luxuriating
within the space they have created
         the bed upon which they lie

John Lyons

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