-- The Wind and the Night --

John Herlihy

The breath of the spirit rides on the wind,

The shadows of the night shade its spirit.

The wind, the lover who came to be loved,

Night, the one loved, who became a lover.

The breath of the wind is felt by the night,

The vision of night invaded by gentle wind.

Intimacy born from that of mutual respect,

The wind of longing, the night of belonging.

By day, the wind makes it way with ease,

Wild, carefree, a rushing gale, or a breeze.

By night, the wind invisible as dark is dark,

The darkness all-encompassing and stark.

A restless heart of various winds unfold,

The night listens to all its adventures told.

Marauding, invading, this spirit of the wind,

Serene, inquiring, on night’s heart pinned.

The breeze strikes a pitiful tune on wind chimes,

Night hears the doleful sound as poetic rhymes.

Hope now fills the darkened heart of the night,

The wind perfumed with illuminations of light.

A ghost love made real by the wind’s forceful ring,

All thru the quiet night the wind’s heart did sing.

Night amplifies everything, even the breath of the wind,

The silence, the darkness, the moon and stars all singed.

Then love stirs the wind’s fragile emotions at its core,

Waves of the wind’s love break on the night’s shore.

Entwined in eternal darkness, the two lovers urged,

Wind and night disappear, in deep darkness merged.

The wind, the lover in love, seeking union whole,

The night, the lover beloved, her insight enters his soul.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Thursday 15 July 2021