Hand Fastings
The Sky Is Ours
When I feel overwhelmed by destruction,
Let me go down to the sea.
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Let me sit by the immeasurable ocean
And watch the surf
Beating in and running out all day and all night,
Let me sit by the sea
And have the bitter sea winds
Slap my cheeks with their cold, damp hands
Until I am sensible again
Let me look at the sky at night
And let the stars tell me
Of limitless horizons and unknown universes
Until I am grown calm and strong once more
A Lychee For A.E.
Before the ring, before the web
of beautiful promises,
Love, I give you this:
Stripped to the flesh,
dark rind discarded
like an abbot's robe,
the sleek globe glows
like a paper lantern
in a summer garden.
Clustered on branches
of maturing evergreens
girdled in their groves
that grow fecund,
as colonies of bees
sip
at their flowers' glands.
Bred for pleasure and
the appetites of an emperor:
Satiated, shut your hand
on my shrunken, bruised
black, heart of stone.
​
Nuptials
River, be their teacher,
that together they may turn their
future highs and lows into one hopeful flow
Two opposite shores
feeding from a single source.
​
Mountain, be their milestone,
that hand in hand they rise above
familiarity's worn tracks
into horizons of their own
Two separate footpaths dreaming of a common peak.
​
Birdsong, be their mantra,
that down the frail aisles of their days, their twilight hearts twitter morning
and their dreams prove branch enough.
​
The First Time
The first time ever I saw your face
I thought the sun rose in your eyes,
And the moon and stars were the gifts you gave
To the dark and the empty skies, my love,
The first time ever I kissed your mouth
And felt your heart beat close to mine
Like the trembling heart of a captive bird
That was there at my command, my love
And the first time ever I lay with you
I felt your heart so close to mine
And I knew our joy would fill the earth
And last till the end of time my love
The first time ever I saw your face.
Wild Awake
People are like cities: We all have alleys and gardens and secret rooftops and places where daisies sprout between the sidewalk cracks, but most of the time all we let each other see is is a postcard glimpse of a skyline or a polished square. Love lets you find those hidden places in another person, even the ones they didn’t know were there, even the ones they wouldn’t have thought to call beautiful themselves.
The Orange
At lunchtime I bought a huge orange
The size of it made us all laugh.
I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave
They got quarters and I had a half.
​
And that orange it made me so happy,
As ordinary things often do
Just lately. The shopping. A walk in the park
This is peace and contentment. It's new.
​
The rest of my day was quite easy.
I did all my jobs on my list
And enjoyed them and had some time over.
I love you. I'm glad I exist.
Rock
Thank you for being my rock when all I know is rock bottom.
​
You don't tie me down, you hold me down, and that feeling is an honour I've never felt until you came along.
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I'm thankful for the beautiful energies that transpired to bring us together.
​
I think it's safe to say, I believe a little more in magic - because I hoped for this feeling for as long as I could remember.
Nuptials
River, be their teacher,
that together they may turn
their future highs and lows
into one hopeful flow
Two opposite shores
feeding from a single source.
Mountain, be their milestone,
that hand in hand they rise above
familiarity's worn tracks
into horizons of their own
Two separate footpaths
dreaming of a common peak.
Birdsong, be their mantra,
that down the frail aisles of their days,
their twilight hearts twitter morning
and their dreams prove branch enough.
A Weather Forecast
there was a light drizzle when they came together
the two of them, not young, or freshly minted, rather more ‘mature’
carrying rucksacks full of incidents and accidents, hints and allegations
​
there was a storm when they arrived
in the midst of lives - the known, their own, the others
but souls met,
smiles met,
bodies met,
new coin was forged and bartered
​
there was a rainbow when they reached their new future
a mixed-up, heads-up, what’s-up future
a true future.
and then the sun was shining when they promised
before us
the vow, the pledge, the pushing-on of rings
we welcomed this meteorological shift
the herald of new beginnings
casting anabatic winds their way to take them
onwards to their highest hopes and dreams
Epthimalium
this is your new garden, a whole wide
world of it, so green and songbird fresh,
all yours to map and fill with luminous
constellations of fruit and berry blossoms
​
this is your new garden, tend it as if
all the young shoots that promise
a succulent harvest of root and ear
will be young and tender for all time
​
this is your garden, there will always be
much hoeing and raking, the clearing
of weeds and sowing of seeds will ask
patience, attention, forgiving laughter
​
this is the garden you want to live in, it’s not
all sunshine – there’s moonshine too, all earth
needs storms, but when dark clouds peel back,
see your garden bloom into a universe of stars
From: A North American Indian Marriage Ceremony
FMay the sun bring you new energies by day,
May the moon softly restore you by night.
May the rain wash away any worries you may have
And the breeze blow new strength into your being.
And then, all the days of your life,
May you walk gently through the world
And know its beauty.
​
Now you will feel not the rain, for each will shelter the other.
Now you will feel not cold, for each will warm the other.
Now you will feel not solitude, for each will company the other.
Now you are two persons, but both will lead one life.
Go now to your dwelling to enter into the days of your li
A Song For Hiawatha
Come join us in celebration, those who love sunshine on meadow
Who love shadow of the forest,
love the wind among the branches and the palisades of pine trees,
and the thunder in the mountains whose innumerable echoes flap like
eagles in their eries.
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Listen to this song of marriage. How, from another tribe and country
came a young man saying, “give me as my wife this maiden, and our
hands be clasped more closely, and our hearts be more united."
Thus it is, our daughters leave us, those we love and those who love us.
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When a youth with flaunting feathers beckons to the fairest maiden.
From the sky the sun benignant looked upon them through the branches,
Saying to them, “oh, my children life is chequered shade and sunshine.”
The two figures man and woman Standing hand in hand together, with
their hands so clasped together that they seem in one united. And the
words thus represented are, “I see your heart within you.”
Sing them songs of love and longing
Now, let's feast and be more joyous.
The summer was in our hands
we lay like fallen apples in the grass,
and as we lay intertwined,
it seemed we were endless,
we were drowning in each other,
yet neither called for help,
somehow we had reached Camelot,
the stars came out and blessed us,
we could hear the sea
we searched each other andfound ourselves,
call it love yet it was better than that,
we made each other happen.