Pearls Before Easter

I sat upon a wooded ship and listened 

As Spring favored her birds

Like pearls before Easter

They sang and danced 

And sparkled 

Until all were jealous

And plotting

The morning snuck out early

Before the Sun

Dancing among the indirect light

Stealing kisses from retiring lamp-posts

She is beauty

And her dress carries

In its folds

A hemisphere of breakable promises

She greets me

revealing a flash of pale thigh

Her grin a farewell

And I am moved to pursue her

But there is nothing to catch

Oh, that the morning, pre-dawn, had a name

I would stand upon this ship

Whisper it local as not to wake the Sun

Yet asleep

Come to me!

Let us get lost 

In each others' bedclothes!

Offer me that which I know I can not have!

Smear your blush across my cheek

And send thought, primal into my ear!

Let your breath fill my sails

For I have idled all night

Under a windless moon

Far from shore

compass and charts

Be damned

I know my destination

She frolics in the early light

Singing and tossing rose-blossoms

As the sea licks at her toes

But she is a country beyond

Protected by a curse

In soft light I aim my ship landward

Knowing I could never arrive

Before her Father rises