Page 39 - Contrast1975

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~Shuddered, and I reeled, then stood
POn the crest of a grey flood
!hat forced the space between this heart
Ynd yours, my Barbara, to depart.
lour presence was so strong!
Fknew your dreaming mind was drawn
Uron: out the kingdom of the night,
nhmdered by gross mortal sight
T"Yo he, for now, the Queen of Love'.
ea, kiss this rose and seek"
lie sai'd," to ki.ss the' rose on her fair cheek."
~gladlY brushed it with my lips
" ot feeling thorns in finger tips.
IY~a, whisper to this ivory mask:
will be ready for love's task."
~Trnuttered this to its bland face
AM'~mnotdtwhOi.thkr'angsigohf
lost love's disgrace.
the trees became
A uted whisperers of your name
nd the clouds took on your fo;m
And th e chill breeze became warm.'
IThen ,garowmg . phosphorescence
;.sued from the second mirror,
s~rst a dart of light, no stronger-
I!lone forth from its golden essence.
glowed a?d swayed within the glass,
Ifmoved with a supernal grace.
%ared to step toward the man
"c 0 held such beauty in his hand;
Orne forward" he replied at last.
~nd there in silks of ether dressed,
T~t you, my Barbara, aggrandized.
B e nymphs and satyrs, hypnotized
y the garlands of your virtue
Andthe loveliness that is you
WCCra.otcwhdm' egd the crofts of H'eaven
from and heavy laden
stars,
G Ith grave mystery as treasure,
aVe you these for love in measure.
WYo.ur" seIf" was not disturbed in sleep,
Ith only your sweet soul awake
You blinked and questioned, but acquiesced
Finally 'neath the dreamer's trust:
That all a dreamer sees is air
What is to him is never there,
Though fairies dance and lovers kiss
They flee before the sun like mist.
And so you settled on your throne,
Thinking that your court was home.
III
The ancient man with lips of ice
Breathed three times upon the glass.
"Where is the Queen of Love?" I cried,
For all had gone without a trace.
"She is abstracted in mankind,
She is no more than womankind,
Though more than all the earth might hold
If Love's dark secrets should be told."
These things he said, and presently,
Held the golden glass to me.
A thousand happy people swam
Into the limits of my ken.
Each man and woman had a child,
And each, as I perceived it, smiled
At cruel and absurd things in life:
The discord and the constant strife,
For they had found their paradise.
And with a tear, I was aware
Of subtle greatness moving there:
Within our souls, a grafted part
Of a cosmic Human Heart.
IV
I blinked my eyes, the glass was gone!
The sun was born, the day had come!
And then I heard a waning voice:
"Mine is the goal and yours the choice."