We, All At Sea Poem by Dónall Dempsey

The thunderclap
of fireworks

breaks over
the night's headland

as if to hearld
the real storm

that thunders & lightnings
San Luca's feastday.

All night
the storm prowls

our little balcony

shivering the shutters

demanding to be
let in.

We, all
at sea

cuddle
closer
(closer still)

until morning bells
peal with sunshine

the day blessed
with the sun's holy heat

...our miraculous love.


******
San Luca is the patron saint of Praiano where we were cuddled together

*******

And then again the same experience just coming in at a different angle and the whole emotional trajectory and imagery changes to produce the landscape of this poem.

******

YOU AGAIN

Your summer dress
comes to rest

upon the balcony

hung up on a thin
wire hanger

(an exotic bird)

it cries for your body
weeps at being

parted from you
& your curves

a pool of tears
collects at its hem

as longingly it dreams of
the touch of your skin

asleep now
in the sun.

Later that evening
frightened by the approaching storm

it tries to escape
the clamour of its hanger

almost flies off
beyond the reach of my hands

run away to sea
seeking for further horizons.

I calm it
tame its panic

fold it tenderly

carry it like a dreaming
child

lay it to rest
at the foot of the bed

where all night long it sleeps
at your feet

awaiting your footstep

the sunshine
of being

you
again.