-- Longings --

By John Herlihy

Longings live long,

Our enduring song.

Heard as far thunder,

Felt as sublime wonder.

Longings live inside,

Nocturnes that sing.

In the night far – wide,

Their kindness to bring.

Longings can even wail,

Drawn from a deep well.

Our mind/heart to assail,

Our secret desires to tell.

Longings as night birds,

Awash in dewy moonglow.

Whispered as soft words,

In the silence of snow.

Our longings as incense,

Perfume filling the mind.

Arriving with no pretense,

Only wishing to be kind.

Longings take us by the hand,

Guiding where we should go.

Every false step a reprimand,

A stitch in the fabric we sew.

Each one a magnitude,

A thing never to be bound.

Lying within their plenitude,

Still waiting to be found.

Longings perilous, wondrous,

Only in the night unveiled.

Making an empty heart spacious,

All frustrations and failures veiled.

When our longings give vent,

Our desires no longer hide.

Our inmost longings be lent,

As we with our hearts confide.

Our longings will lead the way,

To the end where we must go.

As the swift flight of a blue jay,

Soaring upon winds that know.

The life we live finally finished,

The longings we have live on.

Hope can never be diminished,

Seen in light, heard in birdsong.

Longings lament not, take to sky,

Fresh breath in the rush of wings.

Flocks of birds rising, soaring high,

As wind smelling of the sea sings.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Sunday 23 April 2023