LOVE AND SOLITUDE
Love makes solitude lonely
when the beloved is away
as words recited rhythmically
say more than they seem to say.
Lovers share their solitudes
quietly, together and apart,
they dream they hear the stars
sing in their common heart.
Love spans solitudes and seasons,
but death hums a one-note song –
the bridges remain half hung,
and the maps have all gone wrong.
Yet when least we expect it,
love shepherds all solitude
into a river of we, and we
and the long water collude
in singing out the joy of breath,
swimming in the face of death.