The material spirit

One to another
           separate
but each seen
           in the other’s eyes
the face read
           observed
listened to
           each expression
traced and mined
           for signs of love

for its affirmation
           recognition of feelings
of commitment
           the delicate need
to be one and both
           more than the convergence
of skin and breath
           a shared form or way of life

within the big picture
           the smallest of gestures
that accumulate
           that act upon love
absolute and lyrical
           innocent and just
measured in startime
           bathed in beauty
lustrous truth
           of the material spirit

John Lyons

Revised text