'Voyages'

i looked for you in the night
like a swimmer searching for a lost diver
i glimpse your face in the dim light
like a blind fish in dark water
i reach for you and hold you
and feel the lonely throb of old sorrows
tremble from your heart

my hands
gentle as the hands of prayer
summon the cool peace of empty cathedrals
to soothe you,
stroke your face, your hair
like the whisper of a breeze at evening...
and now that you smile
we drift together
to the warm house of sleep

and it's only love moves through me
nothing less
nothing more
and it's only love that frees us
guides us on all our calm or troubled voyages
to a safe and friendly shore.

Writer and Muse

I am the vessel
That carries her voice
She embarked on my journey
And left me no choice
She came aboard quite suddenly
How could I refuse
I am the writer
And she the Muse

I am the child
Who is loyal to no other
She took me for a daughter
Though she is no mother
She adopted me quite ruthlessly
And began to enthuse
I am the writer
And she the Muse

I am the prisoner
Waiting for bail
She is the judge
Who threw me in jail
My sentence may be life
Bid who can I accuse
As I am the writer
And she the Muse

I am the dove
That flies from her sleeves
She the magician
Whose timing deceives
Plucking quills from my tail
How she does abuse
I am the writer
And She the Muse.

(January 1989)