Adagio for Strings

1. Rain Upon a Lake

Infected with water, the clouded firmament ruptures,
a frenzy of sighs and moans. The lake's surface
blurs; it cannot maintain integrity, steadiness, or
purity. 

Feet brush along a border of convulsing sand
and blurring water, draw a lazy line back and forth 
across the frontier. The water labors to remain steady,
increasingly grief-stricken. 

The water becomes opaque and brackish,
foul to drink and oily to the touch. The cloudburst
continues.

1b. Dust Upon a Desert Floor

Black stones burn down in the desert sky 
through a gateway of stars known as a dozen 
mythical creatures. They turn to handfuls of dust,
silently fill desiccated cracks, and weigh upon
wiry coyotes, starving for water, furtively watching
those who walk by.


2. The Final Touch of a Lover

This is the final touch of a lover, 
but not as it was: It was a kiss, 
a trace of dew shared on the lips, 
merely the same as so many before, 
completely unnoticed. 

This is the final touch of a lover 
as it is remembered: A tragic, desperate kiss, 
a knowing dread for separation
which hindsight demands we knew would come.


3. Harmony of Emotion

The denser emotions accreted slowly, 
a berg floating, but mostly sunken.
It reverberated powerfully, 
resonating in a cresting wave of despair.

The crystalline mountain cracked, 
each segment cleaved slowly, 
leaving a throbbing sorrow, fading and surging, 
steady as a pulsar.

©2000 Timothy A. Clark