Midnight's Door Poem by Shirley Houston

Alabaster moonbeams/
like liquid/
streams/
through cracked windows/
& billowing sheers/
veneers/
that can't conceal/
reality/
separating truth from fantasy/
easily/
washing over my brow/
& disavowed proclaimations of liberation from love's matrix/
a creative riff/
like Hendrix in the mix/
of recessed devotions/
obscured emotions/
wrapped beautifully in a fragrant sachet/
belayed inextricably/
to desires that eclipse tomorrow's rainbow/
love's undertow/
that lingers powerfully/
despite anomalies/
I'm left wondering how we/
arrived here/
in this murky place/
inebriated/
agitated/
trying to regain clarity of vision/
as we confess/
profess/
random omissions & mistakes we've made/
along the way/
without fanfare or accolade/
just honest words/
sage utterances/
sweet like marmalade/
& concomitantly/
bitter/
like unsweetened choclate/
dark/
but laid bare anyway/
Does true love ever really fade away?
Or is it parlayed?
nurtured violently by time & space/
though momentarily displaced/
does it grow more deeply?
ascend to a higher plane?
purified in the fire/
blazing brighter/
become retrained?
though strained?
stained?
Alabaster moonbeams/
like liquid/
streams/
through cracked windows/
a fragrant breeze/
ensues/
like hope, renewed/
the sinews of us/
tried/
& proven true/
at midnight's door