Greetings from beyond the page

Salute the rising rose
           red in its bed
for you chose
           above all else
love
           as your path
to happiness
           knowing that this
would set your breath
           against the wind
that your spirit
           would sometimes fail
and that your heart
           would be left
to find its way
           among the thorns

Salute the rising sun
           proud parent of us all
witness too to our trials
           and tribulations
Salute the stars
           that guide our path
at night or when
           we are lost at sea
The mystery of love
           is one we carry deep within
our full-blooded frames
           we in our oneness
constantly in pursuit
           of the perfect duplicate
but life’s duplicities
           lead us so easily astray

Salute the wisdom
           of the child’s kiss
of a mother’s or a father’s
           given in the innocence
of love’s nature
           We are to live
for no other purpose
           than love and on occasions
we must die for it
           without question

John Lyons