(For Amanda)
My life is a walled garden where I lie alone among the flowering shrubs
Marking the graves of my desire
Soaking up the empire of sun
And wind
That I rule from afar
Carrying a thousand years of you in my pocket
Each of your days another blade
That clearcuts my country
And your butterflies light upon me
To kill me with a million tiny kisses
Tongues of red air, stealing my soul
Turning me into numbers
Telling the story of my lonely rule
Until I realise that I will surely die
Unless I capture you myself
Ensnare you in my charmed net
Of sorceries
Princess of Poison Butterflies
Made Queen of Beating Hearts
Veiled in white linen
Sunlight warming blended skin
New shoots breaking old walls
A monument to the Goddess of Creation
Faery trees and dark stars to live in them
And another story when I see the constellation
That is you
Stretching over the ruins
© Rodney Orpheus 2002