He haunts her, this ghost
a gentle apparition of pain
that wafts through her dreams
stirring emotions best undisturbed
in waking hours.
She didn't want to believe
what the mystic told her in Arabic
about the one she could never forget,
who would keep her heart engaged
and her emotions detached.
Four men, he said
would remain constant friends.
But that true mirror of her soul?
The opportunity was lost
in this lifetime.
She could not imagine
that all these years later
his words would ring true.
And there was nothing to be done
about continental divide.
But when two strangers met
on the Ides of March on an island,
they recognised each other instantly.
Even as love blazed a trail,
fate intervened.
Their journey once written in the stars
soaring above the moon's shadow;
then the map vanished and
their path was abandoned.
From exile, desolate hearts remember.
Taos Pueblo photograph by Howard Ranier, courtesy of the Blue Rain Gallery, Taos, New Mexico. Poem written for Poetry Thursday.
Your poetry is filled with passion Tara ... whether political or emotional, it speaks to and from the core. Haunted ~ some of us will always be ... xx, JP
Posted by: JanePoe (aka Deborah) | 22 June 2007 at 07:23
Hauntingly beautiful. Suddenly I find some reflections of it in my life.
Posted by: gautami | 22 June 2007 at 05:58
Maybe I'm a sucker for love and romance; this made me so sad, the love that would never be requited. But beautiful in its pathos--your language as you tell this sad tale is so lovely.
Posted by: chicklegirl | 22 June 2007 at 05:06
The image matched the poem perfectly.
I enjoyed it very much.
Posted by: Christina | 22 June 2007 at 00:16
Did you write this? This is outstanding. I loved it. The image you chose to accompany the words is perfect. I am haunted at having read it. Amazing.
xo
Blue
Posted by: Blue | 21 June 2007 at 22:45
As Colette said above... very haunting, photo and verse -- and extremely well matched!
Very cool Tara! Well done...
As an aside, I spent a couple weeks in a commune near Toas in September of 1970. I had journeyed across the country on motorcycle -- and this was one of the stops.
I took my wife to Santa Fe two years ago as a surprise anniversary gift. We spent days exploring the hundreds of galleries in Santa Fe and Taos... it was magical...
Posted by: Rob Kistner | 21 June 2007 at 21:26
What a beautiful poem, Tara. I love that last line. You picked a great photo to accompany your words. Lovely.
Posted by: January | 21 June 2007 at 20:46
Really nice. The words 'haunt' and 'mystic' evoke such a depth in this. And the love's lost opportunities and continental divide pierce right into the heart.
Posted by: Clare | 21 June 2007 at 18:55
A beautiful poem Tara. That last stanza pulled at my heartstings. :)
Amazing photo!
XXOO
Posted by: Tammy | 21 June 2007 at 18:53
Beautiful and oh so true. When we meet a person, you must look deep within his eyes to know. Is this the one? Is this my souls mate? If you miss him, it will haunt you for the rest of your life. I know this all too well. This lonely fate, for I was one who did not look.
Just beautiful, so beautiful that it hurts. The photo is hunting.
love-Melanie-bd
Posted by: Melanie-bd | 21 June 2007 at 18:52
Oh, how soul-stirring, Tara. The last paragraph went straight to my heart.
Posted by: Regina Clare Jane | 21 June 2007 at 18:43
Haunting...both the photo and your poetry. I've been to the Taos Pueblo; it was unforgettable. xoxo
Posted by: Colette | 21 June 2007 at 18:24
wow. beautiful. powerful. moving.
Posted by: chocolate covered musings | 21 June 2007 at 16:08
Truly and hauntingly beautiful. All those lost opportunities, like a "gentle apparition of pain."
Sigh...
Posted by: Becca | 21 June 2007 at 15:01
What a heartbreaking - and yes, haunting, poem, Tara. The "if only's" and the "what if's" of the heart can haunt us for years, even when the rest of our lives are ideal.
Many, many ((hugs)).
XOXO
Posted by: tinker | 21 June 2007 at 13:39