Measure for measure

This is what was made to be
         a world to be measured
in coherent time
         the ungathered rose
apple blossom and the smell
         of a new-mown lawn

Last night the sun set
         with a red glow
that infused the horizon
         with hope for better days to come
the bright Spanish doubloon
         that Columbus saw sinking
slowly into the Caribbean sea
         off the coast of Hispaniola

We make and spend our own time
         and all we make is to be measured
every step of the dance
         every beat of the baton
every phrase on the page
         something made that is to be measured
even love and even lips
         and hair that cascades across a brow
and hands that hold
         and eyes that beckon
and breaths that mingle
         all made to be in some way
measured
         immeasurably so

In any canvas
         or in the simplest sketch
there are proportions to consider
         what the dimensions will hold
and what is made with the imagination
         soundscape   lovescape    lifescape
the fault lies only in the stars we choose
         she of the rose she of the lily
she of the dream-drenched eyes

and if I dwell I am seduced
         and rendered speechless
in a silence that is to be measured
         deliberately delicately measured
with all the courage of a culture
         that goes against the grain
that refuses to be fossilized
         but soldiers on into the intimacies
of affection and made things

Love is a thing that we make
         and the making of it
is the making of us
         a creation that is
free and faithful and spontaneous
         and delicate and forethoughtful
a multiplication of ungathered roses
          And so to her loving beauty :
peerless—that is       
          measured to be
beyond measure

John Lyons