Little Looks at Love

An Ancient Spell

In every other sphere
a man may think he has his sights set clearly,
his thoughts aimed surely
impressed and dressed with excellence and certainty –
and yet by woman be with ease, and inexplicably,
subjected to a kind of sorcery.


Fortuna Amor

As for Love…
that arbitrary lady
is sure to have it
exactly as she wills.
Though steady as a rock
she might have made it –
chance alone she chose
to rule it.
Kneel, you, before caprice
is what she says.
And we obey.


Love is Deciduous

Love is deciduous. It does not come
from heaven. It falls and grows
and grows and falls… and true,
it may be leavened… but luck alone
will choose its troubadours and chatelains.


The Price

We pay
for the delusion that is love
with tears.
That is the price.
But keep the broken pieces.
Take them.
Lay them side by side,
and pray.


True Love

Two hearts, two souls, conjoined as one,
forever and forever.
Nothing in the world compares
to a pint of good Welsh bitter.

(All poems from ‘Of Goddesses and Women’ and ‘Epigrams’)