St. John’s River

We could wonder about
What we might have become
Had things been different.

But you can’t just dissolve
The distance between
Here and there,
Or shrink the space
Between now and then.

So please look
Mercifully upon me,
When you visit tonight.

I know you wouldn’t be
Happier down here with me.

The stars have fallen behind
The veil of my sight again,
But the fervid moonlight
Still falls in love with your
Imprecise poetry.

You know heaven
Holds no such light for me,
And so has excluded me
From your eloquent brevity.

I have no awful eyes
Left to see you with,
Since your shining presence
Saturated my sight.

Through your name,
I am blinded,
But without your name
There would be no consequence.

We all need consequence.

But there we must part,
With you there, and I here.

A decisive lineation
forcing apart
What might otherwise
Naturally go together.