In the library of leaves and longing,
in the candle annex,
near the catalog of degrees of evening light,
I found you, at your desk
as if in the cockpit of an indigo dream.
You had set your glasses down
upon an open page of The Divine Magazine--
the one that no one wants to read;
the one that breaks everybody's heart.
I am here to sign the register
of those for whom your face is the only face--
the Special Collection, shown only by arrangement,
of the unlocked, though tangled, vine.
What can I say, but that I love you?
though you are not free
though you are not mine.
I know enough to say nothing else--
not here,
not now,
but I'll leave these poems on every stair
to help you find your way
even through these, the most terrible volumes;
even through separation and broken bindings,
even through the most blinding tears.
______
You are definitely the queen of metaphoric spaces, Shay. This is as gorgeous as love poetry gets.
ReplyDeleteYet another of those love poems only you can write, Shay--the picture of the library of love--surely the most powerful place on earth--is flawless as a tiffany diamond and almost as inaccessible for most of us, yet you make it close and intimately familiar. Tenderness shines through this like the sun.
ReplyDelete*sigh*
ReplyDeleteAdore that opening line… unrequited love - Shay does do tender ;P
ReplyDeleteSteeped in longing.........a bittersweet cup. I especially love the "cockpit of an indigo dream", and the magazine that breaks everybody's heart. I LOVE the leaving poems on every stair to help the beloved find her way.......
ReplyDeleteThis is so exquisite and so "only you could write it." It helped me breathe.
ReplyDeleteThis bit was particularly haunting:
ReplyDelete"I am here to sign the register
of those for whom your face is the only face--
the Special Collection, shown only by arrangement,
of the unlocked, though tangled, vine."
"Catalog of Shades of Evening Light"
ReplyDeleteWow! Your spin off great titles and phrases like a dervish!
and yes, dark beer sucks
ALOHA from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
> < } } ( ° >
oh. my. dear. god.
ReplyDeletenobody! can write love poetry like you do. this one turned my heart inside out by the end! stunning!
♥
you shape the space we all know, but which only you can voice ~
ReplyDelete