Of Inadequacies

 

Night cannot unravel longing from need

Time cannot cipher the hand from the deed

And mind cannot deftly devoid with thought

The onyx ocean of all that is not

Heartache and hunger and hope intertwine

Like moonlight and rain on the wisteria vine

Darling, the distance between have and hold

Trembles in fathoms where fingertips fold

And word is the pilgrim that humbly implores

Searching the ocean of want for its shores

We’ve held in moments life’s sweet, finite bliss

We’ve borne the torment of its farewell kiss

We’ve stripped the silence and searched its dark vaunt

To glean from its tresses the echoes that taunt

We’ve held each other and danced; long and slow

For parting’s sweet sorrow comes when we let go

Rising and falling, we laugh and we weep

Touching thought-shadows when we cannot sleep

And while all the earth is wrapped in sable silk

We grasp at threads of intangible ilk

Darling, the stuff that weaves thought is enough

The flip-side of longing is beautiful love

The flip-side of love is a longing within

That cannot be met in this flesh-garb of sin

So here in this moment and here in this chair

Love is a torment I’ll willingly bear

Bastion of passion and purposed belief

Bulwark of beautiful, beautiful grief

I hear the night murmur, a somnolent call

‘Together we conquer, alone we fall’

© Janet Martin