That Night Poem by jim hogg

That April night we went walking
Alone for the very first time
The moon and stars all came flocking
We stumbled towards the sublime

The usual suspects were present
The delicate veils of ardour
The crescent over the crescent
Reflections of night on the harbour

We gazed at the white sweeping beams
searching from Donaghadee
for lovers marooned on the sea of dreams
the only sea we could then see

That summer night we went dancing
Too deeply in love to express
like part of some perfect pattern
a fortress we'd always defend

Your chestnut hair in the night's light
the glistening sea in your eyes
the touch of your lips and your smile
as sweet as the sweetest sunrise

We stared out into the moonlight
Its beam rippling pale and forlorn
Over the channel, into the night
Straight to the mountains of Mourne

That winter night we went strolling
Thinking of all that might be
Fishermen stood in the shadows below
casting their dreams in the sea

We stood on the edge of forever
Entranced by the shimmering tide
So close to our own twelfth of never
or moment our paths would divide

Down that tempting and fleeting lane
We wondered if we should wander
Across the ocean and back again
Before the dawn drove us under

That winter's end we went walking
Apart and alone by the sea
where only seagulls were calling
their cries like the end of all dreams


2007