Thursday, November 15, 2012

Love's Higher Octave

Thinking of Jack Gilbert (1925-2012).

The body is no place
for the body
The spirit is no place
for the spirit

Love makes them overflow
into each other
Like great rivers
without shores
Emptying the dregs of all
that was not love:

The jewels you thought
were yours,
The stones you hoped
were jewels
In the mirrored moon dissolving
just like you.

Love says what you are missing
isn't there,
Makes sure that what is hidden
can't be found

For the only thing worth having
in the end
The treasure of this ever-
dying realm

Is to lose all that you know
for what you don't
And hold on to its tether
to let go.

How else to know the stars
live in your heart
Than let them be too far away
to touch?