vessels
we found the tree lying down in the leaves
by the starry-skied riverside at night
the length of its trunk was a deeply grooved & grey corduroy
thick contrasting lines of dark and light
branches once raised like arms in solar praise
now stretched out amongst its own lost leaves
as though in relaxed star-gazing repose
lying down next to it similarly, our hearts open to joy delicious,
drinking deeply the full cups of each other;
the wine of warm and welcomed companionship and kisses
always full and raised to the lips when we are together
the muse was singing “hidden place” somewhere inside
though all I heard were frogs croaking, a nearby cricket
and the small sounds of hips and lips pressed and plied
fingers smiling, finding leaves in your hair’s gathering thicket
giggling, we got up and noticed a curious skeletal shelter in the
shadows,
built of curved logs and limbs, and took shelter within its hollow
frame
slipping through the opening as quiet as possible;
two invisible birds in a cage without a door,
like being inside a wooden boat in the early stages of construction,
turned upside-down as though it were intended to sail the spaces
between the canopies of the trees
suddenly, with the spine-like line of the keel
set to the sea of the stars, the deep infinity sparkling above
how “steer board” came to be “starboard” in the romance languages
becomes a part of this story, a part of what i know of love
the structure above a reflection of this disembodied ship we are
creating,
this vessel being constructed by joining lips and limbs, hearts and
hands cradling spines and fingers wetting warm and secret rudders
the tongues unspoken language raising remembered sails
with no knowledge of which wind will fill these sails tonight
i keep my attention to the internal spirit level and the wheel
as the gentle swells we push through move our bubble close to center
shifting our positions by heart and head, guiding this dream by feel
and gratefully knowing that wind & rain are why the seasons fade
and roses die
i am satiated to take refuge in the eternal moments of togetherness
now,
yet, simultaneously, to this new rich ground i secretly wish to turn
my plow
for in your weather I find an affinity, a tandem flow
and as sudden as a spring rain, the old superfluous armor dissolves
within me something older and deeper is speaking clearly,
without obstacle or veil of allowing this garden to grow,
and letting this sound ship sail
for there are no stars to be found when one’s eyes are fixed on the
ground,
and putting our lips and hips level with that starry pool we both drink our fill.
More sample poems can be found at his blog, an illuminated path of heart.
All poems are the property of David Anthony Martin and used by permission.
