Who knows

Who knows when time will end
             time our curse and comfort
or when the blood of desire
             will run dry and the taut skin
fall away from the bone :
             love is as voracious as the wind
that effaces our inner topographies
             that wears the river bed
                          down to the sea

I hear the cry of gulls
             who have abandoned the shore
on this downcast day
             I see them pirouette in the grey sky
watch as they usurp the air space
             of magpie and pigeon and crow
timeless birds / variations
             on the theme of sunlight

today no embroidered light
             today the line is slack
and no fish will bite
             the pier all but deserted
today not so much
             as a broken rainbow
not a single smile
             trapped in the mirror

Today will pass
             but who knows
when time will end
             your time and mine

John Lyons