21: Ellipsis

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Journey
by Anselm Hollo

...watched you
                    and you were turning, turning
                                                            from me, and back to me, you were light & dark
                                                            both, in ever-shifting proportion
                                                            as were the questions that whirled in my head
                                                                            —question answered by question, your voice & mine
                                                                following, leading, leading us where, where were we going
                                                                      where could we go, if we would, when we would, and
                                                                                                                                            what
                                                                            were the reasons given, the best way to get there
                                                           through the rooms and streets, the blueing desert, enclosed by
                                                                                                                                                time
I watched you,
                                     trying to read your face
                                              —a wanderer in light halls, dark caves, and held by the wind
                                              piercing us beyond pleasure or pain, a constant spear
                                ...watched you,
                    resting, our bodies stretched out on a shield
                                      in a place with many old gods on the walls;
                              did they whisper and hum,
                          back through their millions of lives, through time?
                                             I could not hear them, they had nothing to tell me,
                                            I could not hear them, only your breath
             only the songs of your body, your face,
                                            an intricate chant, an enchantment, yet clear
                         in all its relations
                                                and high, high on it, in the place we had reached, a high place,
                                                   I was opened to you, your music, through my eyes
                                                         not watching, but seeing, now, seeing
                                                                                         you—light in the dark that shines beyond walls or
                                                                                                                                                time...