Since I can never see your face,
James Elroy Flecker’s concluding lines in “To a Poet a Thousand Years Hence“
And never shake you by the hand,
I send my soul through time and space
To greet you. You will understand.”
Since I can never see your face
illuminated with the glow
of happiness on seeing mine,
I’ll hold the image as a sign
of ultimate simpatico.
Since I can never see your face
and never shake you by the hand
or wrap you in a warm embrace
this mortal side of paradise,
I’ll hold another human twice
as close to keep the bond in place
and never shake you by the hand.
I send my soul through time and space
on wings of faith that countermand
degrees of gravity. The guise
of distance drops when spirits rise.
Beyond the elemental strand,
I send my soul through time and space
to greet you. You will understand
without a single word — you’ll know
that love has come along to guide
my message from the other side
and circled back through long ago
to greet you. You will understand.
———
2013 Mary Boren
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