Imbuement Poem by Gregory Wm. Gunn

No one will lay eyes on your face
the same way that I do: ingenuous,
fully exposed and undercover.
Love inveigled us like briny water,
then tenderly infused us together.
High tide took us farther from shore.
The undertow is strong and murky,
but hinders not our swimming.
We've already forgotten whirlpool words;
they seem irrelevant anyhow;
they've disappeared like secret agents
through a trap door.
Living should be simpler than that:
appliances and plumbing that work,
the windows cleared of frost.

Currently a shift in winds was detected,
entire evenings gazing skyward
watching Orion put another notch
in his belt while fending off the Bull.
Sirius, the Dog Star, shimmering
bright sapphire blue, the waning
moon's light flooding the frontyard
snow a tinge of purple. Whatever we may
or may not do on earth, we thrive,
ultimately by shining. Most nights everything's
out in the open, our light has that much energy.
We embarked on this mission from
a shore that has since vanished, and although
islands are everywhere, and the ocean
is capricious and unpredictable; pitching
& tossing; lurching & yawing. Whatever
we may or may not venture, we are buoyed
by brio: romantic castaways for whom
all remoteness is a harbour of refuge.





01/21/09
GWG