Insouciant

The wind fluttered the curtains as I wept.

Cannons of storm clouds thundered overhead.

You turned ever so slightly as you slept.

Sweet Osmanthus lingered around the bed.

The world never seemed so peaceful before.

I wondered what dreams had captured your mind.

The night in glittered glory came ashore

as wave upon wave left the past behind.

 

I never imagined your face nor frame,

never sought to soften the jagged stone.

I never knew such lips could speak my name

and make me believe its prayerful tone.

Infinity stretched long limbs of grace,

and my heart found flight on redemptive wings.

The moon’s silver haze caressed your face

as soft as summer rain on silken strings.

 

The lost and hollow have hungered for this,

a rippling ring that shudders the soul,

a word, a moment, an embrace, a kiss,

a singular love that makes them feel whole.

The black hair of night cascades into ink,

spilling into pools of syllabic verse.

Surrounded by waves but never to sink,

we are creation’s divine universe.

 

Matter and magic, a great mystery,

we are temporal, eternal, complete.

The beginning, the end, all history,

a lineage of dust and bone effete.

The pale hands of morning cradle my sigh.

I dream through your eyes of embroidered blue.

I pull a thread, unravelling the sky,

and discover heaven inside of you.

 

The ghost of memories is laid to rest.

Footfalls of silence mark the journey’s end.

Teardrops, white blossoms, and soft lips are pressed

upon the remnants that somehow transcend.

All paths are sacred, each shadow for good,

absolution is a psalm in my hand.

The stone, the iron, and carvings of wood

are voiceless echoes which rise from the land.

 

Life is unfurled like a quickening flag,

like narrow ships on the sails of a cloud,

like petals swept in a watery drag,

or a widow draped in a spectral shroud.

Sing sweet my soul upon the minstrel wind.

The heart is a canvas of blue and gold;

and when yet this breath is at final end,

I shall find a warmth though my hands be cold.

Author's Note

Reviews

[Scott Kris]

Well, this is hard to review dear poet.
It is like tryin to describe a new fragrance to someone who has never smelled it before.
You did send me to the thesaurus however. So, I think it is a win for me. ha.
These four lines hit me with a familiar stinging pain...

"The lost and hollow have hungered for this,
a rippling ring that shudders the soul,
a word, a moment, an embrace, a kiss,
a singular love that makes them feel whole"

If only...

Thank you for sharing this beautiful write.

[Lydia Shutter]

"The black hair of night cascades into ink, spilling into pools of syllabic verse." A line that defines every poet. Nighttime is the right time to write....to spill emotions onto the naked page. Your words are so gentle, velvety, beautiful. I felt peaceful after reading them! The emotions expressed so intricately that as a mere reader, I felt them. Outstanding poetry! Lydi**

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Thank you, Lydi. I appreciate your time.

[Richard🖌]

Dear Linda Marie,

For a woman of your obvious emotional depths and complexity to reap the eventual beauty of peaceful acceptance and quietude from sadness, loneliness, and sorrow brings forth a psalm wrought of sheer soulful, magicallly charmed kismet of heart, soul, and mind.
Merely from the poetic aspect of this phenomenal composition, within the breathhold of your incomparably creative brocade of fascinating weaving, living enchantment in masterfully enthralling word-artistry, how can a bard possibly abandon the spell cast upon their love of poetry ere the final word and phrase of every original line? This, I cannot answer.

Your music choice is poetic harmony, with perfection in ambiance and reading rhythm … an overall stunning work, Poetess.

Lest my welcome thins, “Thank you, Linda Marie, for sharing your incomparable mind, heart, and skills … this one is extraordinarily beautiful!"

I shall keep it in my Favorites ⁓ Richard🖌

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Thank you so much, Richard. It feels good to be writing again. This was the longest hiatus I have ever taken; and quite frankly, I thought my well had run dry. I guess I just needed to be quiet for a while, but I am certainly glad to be back.

[Richard🖌]

I can't seem to get enough of this one, Linda Marie … I miss you so much.

[willweb]

Wow, I am literally breathless after reading this beautiful and enchanting piece of poetry. This is so soft and alluring, it is silent and wistful, it shimmers of peacefulness, like the moon kissing the water's edge. Absolutely beautiful.

[John the Baptist]

The intersection of the human and the spiritual pervade this poem. The speaker at first seems to be describing a special love with another person, but the spiritual overtones that follow apparently indicate that there is a joining of the two types of love. The speaker admits that in the end all returns to dust, but also declares a sense of redemption comes from having loved correctly and well. Not many can claim such a resolution, but to them one can say only well done, good and faithful servant.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

there is such peace and contentment felt here...to finally reach that place where we feel safe, feel love, feel forgiveness to and from those we have suffered.
Beautiful poetry here.
Majestic phrasing.
j.

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Thank you, Jacob. Your reviews always mean so much.