A Poem Moves Through Me

Lovers’ quarrels, spats. They happen. Yes, even to Richard & me! Yes, we sometimes trigger each other and, yes, we say or act in ways that can escalate a minor, petty frustration into a full-blown “tsunami of emotion.” Usually I can rapidly shift out from my reactive state, back into being grounded in the field of our love. (See Jumping from Judgment to Love.)

Sometimes I have had to write it out. Years ago, this poem emerged…

A Poem Moves Through Me
by Diana Daffner

a poem moves through me,
cutting through the tendons stretched so tight
that I thought I would scream, heaving my
inner life
outward onto the paper where maybe
you would notice
that I have
died.

a poem sings through me
slicing through the anguish of my heart
piercing the defensive moat that I
have built
and stocked with vibrant fighting fish
slicing through the thickness of my soul
shouting YES! Now!
Forever!
My heart is broken open.

a poem blows softly past my ear
the words a blur like a hummingbird’s wing
the meaning momentary
fleeting

I thought I knew who we were but
now our name eludes me
Who are you, she asked.

Memories of eternal bliss bring
tears to my bitter eyes.

Is this the price of poetry?
a toll that must be paid?
How many times will our journey
take us into the rigidity of ego and
the frigid wasteland of love’s lost way?

I don’t know how to be human.
Intimacy has too many layers.
And yet… and yet…
I have seen the light in your eyes
and held the warmth of your body
and heard the poetry of your joy.

A smile dries my tears and
now I will stay.

(c) Diana Daffner