Love Sage
How has he entwined you?
my dear friend inquired
in light of the unrest
hijacked by silence.
A hopeless romantic
simmering in thought
I failed to draw meaning
from my ensuing response.
I love that he’s bright
handsome and tall
he’s also quick-witted
the attorney I love.
Like a politician speaking
as a matter of course, I continue:
Entrancing, eloquent
like a poet’s prized pen
is the way he hurls words
toward those he commends.
He taught me about Liszt
Debussy and Haydn.
When caressing his piano
harmony awakens.
His glance but devours
—though I failed to admit
that injunctions and writs
were but his to submit.
With passion and doubt
in control of the scene
and a threat now attacking
the man of my “dreams”
I paused for a moment
to regain my composure
heart racing, mind chasing
my imminent foreclosure.
When my rhapsodic perception
had reined itself in,
I turned toward my friend
to explore her terrain.
What about the man
who has stolen your heart?
In an instant, I noticed
the crease of her smile.
With him, I laugh
and cry, even purr
warm in the arms
that for me he procured.
Outside accolades
are lost on our love
we have nothing to prove
we are more than enough.
When I grow weak,
my shoes he’ll remove.
In the shadow of death
he’ll be my muse.
I hope that our children
choose wisely in turn
filling their hearts
with the joy that they churn.
Suddenly empowered
by her deliberate words
auspiciously heartened
my essence returned.
From that moment on
I was to summon my sage
when a would-be suitor
my soul wished to engage.
Wrapped in the safety
of my heart’s ample home
lives the turning point question
my beloved friend posed.
If the reply to her query
revolves only around “he”
it is time to find space
for a “me” and a “we.”
“Love Sage” has two muses:
A question my dear friend, Mimi, posed many moons ago in which my nuanced response, upon further introspection, became a relationship roadmap of sorts. Mimi married her college sweetheart and protagonist in the poem. The tumultuous three-year relationship between my then-boyfriend and me led to much growth. Today, he is a good friend of my husband’s and mine.
More of an image confirmation than a muse, another friend and photographer, Manjari Sharma, shares heartrending photos that capture the affection between her mother, who suffers from early-onset dementia, and her father. Those stolen moments are emblematic of “Love Sage.”
My daughter and her boyfriend in their “we world.”
Breckenridge Colorado
March, 2021
By Alina