Point and counterpoint

Through the mind’s eye
           a world captured and contained
the beating blood of memory
           of sunrise and sunset
blue skies and tempestuous seas
           it’s all there
every perception
           every failure to perceive
a mind sometimes lost
           within the space of its own space
genuflections before Venus
           scorn for the purple moon
the dreary rise and fall
           of the tides

so many worlds within the world
           all held together by love’s syntax
such that a feather
           could knock me down
sweet solace of love
           beyond the lace
the nakedness of another world
           into which I am ushered
the single mind
           of perishable beauty
a tongue that mimics my murmurs
           with gleeful abandon

I carry this world within my head
           I carry this love within my heart
I am my own dishevelled destiny
           a floating consciousness
within which roses and nightingales
           and swallows and peonies
clamour for my attention
           the inventing head
and that never-ending voice
           the voice of all felt things
of every affirmation
           and every doubt
love of all love
           that longs to feel
her burnt breath on my cheek
           to light a taper
within the cathedral of her soul
           to be her celebrant for all time
to ride the muscle
           of that turbulent sea
point and counterpoint
           to her eternal sighs

John Lyons