Love's Call

(i)

Love appeared in the form
of a golden leaf

bold and new-budded
ripe in spring's hazy

splendour. He plucked it,
drank its vibrant, jazzy sap,

chewed the sweet vine
to the heart of the bud.

But the leaf withered
and folded itself into a crisp

and was taken by the wind
on the faintest wisp

of an empty promise
where it floated

like a moth's powdery wing
in autumn's fading light.

(ii)

Love came a second time
cautious and silver-quick

as the eel. Patiently he sat
by the river's edge,

revealed a comforting hand
watched the sleek eel

twist and dart in a haze of bubble,
felt the slow current

of friendship transform
itself into love.

Did the eel take fright ?
It slipped through his fingers,

flickered like a
wayward dream, leaving him

in the shallows to drag
and splash the raw ebb of river,

drink the scented waves
in the cool water's sun.

(iii)

Love called a final time
in his twilight years,

uninvited, unintended -
a stranger to the house.

This love was brash -
a tempestuous song-and-dance act

who squeezed his cheeks
with mottled hands

long since past their prime.
He pushed love away

and love pushed him back;
hid behind his stagnant moat

resisting that bold promise
with flailing arms and weary legs.

But love was resourceful:
it laughed and settled on his knee

caressed his brow with
a fragrant towel

sang to him in a voice
sweeter than the oldest spring vine,

shut tight his much-roamed eye
whispered memories

of those earlier years when the taste
of a lush bud entranced him,

when the glitter of silver
excited him,

when the warmth of perfumed water
filled his senses to the brim

with rememberances of all
that he had been

and was ever meant
to be.