I Brought You Here

I thought I brought you here to lay beside me
In an evening sky lessened by stars
That have neither pleasure nor promise to offer,
The sight of the sun a present from the moon,
My sweet Mother who comes each night to visit.

And in your dreams your eyes were blind
And in your dreams your face was still
As the standing body of a leveret steady on
A tranced hill somewhere amongst
The horizons that ring me like gods
Or mercenaries.

And imagination came as I went,
My thoughts believed, and you
Not there, only the trees that shook,
Only a storm that broke, the cold
Unhappiness that calls across oceans
And personalities that measure out
Their own directions.

And now there is something new to say,
Wearied of everything that has happened
And which is happening
Through the dark air of suggestion
Left and given to emotion that whitens
Souls saying 'I love you', my face
Expressionless as space as evening
Closes in around me, alone,

Stung by shadows that flee through
Windows as I speak your name,
The shadow of pretence darkened,
The eyes not seeing what the mouth
Pretends to utter.

John Cornwall

If you've any comments on this poem, John Cornwall would be pleased to hear from you.