I the Dove

A poem for a past lover...thanks for the lessons, hard though they were.

I the Dove

I the dove, sat upon a branch of a willow tree

Alone, pensive, with eyes to the sea

When along came a raven whom perched beside me

Untamed, unbending, beautiful was he

We sat there for many days, sharing words and sighs

We chirped of hows, whens and whys

There were times when honesty rang and times filled with lies

But I never could break from his enchanting eyes

After a time of union, a strange thing occurred

Something I had never seen, but of which I had heard

Ebony feathers began to fall from the bird

And he watched them float down without any word

I cried out and flew down to the soft midnight mound

I grabbed many in my beak and flew up from the ground

I re-attached his plumes as I circled him ‘round

He sat and he stared, still without sound

I cooed and loved, I healed and took care

I flew up and down many times, and spoke when I dare

But no matter how much my heart ached to share

The feathers continued to fall in mid air

Long days passed and I noticed a change

The feathers below which I struggled to arrange

Were not only black, but white as well, and though strange

I did not stop to wonder, nor did the raven explain

Eventually, I became too weak for flight

And I pondered the pile, feathers both black and white

I looked down at my breast and felt terrible fright

My lovely plumes had vanished from sight

 

It was then that I knew I no longer had will

For my love I saw that myself I would kill

And though I begged and cried, he sat silent still

Looking away over the far distant hill

I raged and I pained, I ached and I fought

I cried more than any dove ought

I knew that I could no longer save this strange lot

And in knowing that, it was peace that I sought

I flew down one last time, with all the strength I had left

And gathered feathers, heart lonely, sad, and bereft

I did not touch the black ones, only mine did I get

And I flew up with courage, that my love would win yet

It was that time that he left, my lover, my friend

It was that action needed to bring things to an end

I needed to heal and myself only to mend

And I wondered if he knew, only love did I intend

Many more days passed in my willow tree

And sometimes the raven would call out to me

With renewed heart, though far away, ‘cross the sea,

He sang of love and what it meant to be free

He told me of feathers, and how they now stayed

He told me of his hurt, no longer afraid

He spoke of a great love who he’d pushed away

And he asked me to wait, for he’d be back someday

 

So I waited in peace, shaded by branches above

I knew he would come, and waste not our great love

For now he was whole and delighted thereof

We were both overjoyed, he the raven, I the dove