Tupelo Honey

And what is love?  is it a doll dressed up?For idleness, fluttering and to nurseA thing of soft misnomers, so divineThat silly youth do think to make itselfDivine by loving, blah, blah, blah and so goes on...Not me, the Queen Isis is still wholeI will cherish love forever more.This pleasant tale is like a little copseThe honied lines so freshly interlaceTo keep the reader in so sweet a placeSo that he or she here and there full-hearted stopsAnd oftentimes he or she feels the dew dropsCome cool and suddenly against his or her faceAnd, by the wandering melody, may traceWhich way the tender legged lines hop.And as I walk this autumn breezeUnknown to me, a Cherub on silver wings descendsTo bring me a gem from the beautiful gardens of heavenAnd smiles with his star-cheering voice sweetly blendsThe blessings of Aphrodite will be melodiously givenTo me with a warm emotionAnd I will be blessed with a sweet Tupelo honeyTo rule my thoughts, heart and dreams.As I remember, my next of kinAs it always has beenConveyed the sightings on crowdedDreamy streets how he spotted,A beauty of mythical stature.I, being whimsical as alwaysPlayed the Fox game and let it slide sideways.Fate was dealing a midnight summer's dreamAnd as the stars ordained, such my life will beBy virtue of this powerful constellationI followed extreme draft inclinations.Day to day errands to the mothershipIs it so or is it not the path to a relationship'Today was a good day' I say to myselfThe elevator stops on the second floorThe soft jolt a shock to the coreSuddenly, I lapsed into esthetic arrestThe doors part; exotic nature reigns and passion full of artBefore me I swear; an angel; ah-yes, a fleeting spiritAt that moment, the lord of my heart recognized that I had found my masterThe lord of my senses recognized that I had found my blissThe lord of my body recognized that I had found my agonyMy third eye was openedMy life was now and forever committed to this seizure.I saw the sweet flower wild nature yieldsA fresh-blown musk roseAnd as I feasted on its visible fragranceMy mind was a blurWe stared at one another, no breathe of fresh air to break the waveIn this vision; reality and physical world became chaos-ilillusoryubdued.The sun, like a golden fruit in the sky  The stars like wine in a thousand gobletsThe moon, like a fresh petal placed in betweenThe green of her eyes shone like precious gems from world’s unseenSoft looks of mercy grace, the flattering shadeNo sweets but my Tupelo honey's smileRight there and then I knew without a chance to doubtThis starry eyes of heaven delightWas to be, will be my love till the hour glass runs outA hard day's work on Chaucer's visitationsTrying as it were, to gather wealth in sacks like bales.To see, be seen, to tell and gather talesI stood on the sidewalk, watching the city lifeThe moment brought an instance that frozeAs she walked by, I cannot lieBoo was crazy flyI don't know what it wasThe eyes contrast to the blue skyThe smile appearing ever so slightly Yet still her charms in breathing paint, engageHer modest cheek will warm a future age.Each heavenly piece I compareMatch Raphael's grace with the loved Madonna’s airJoan of Arc's strength, Venus's softer lineDiana's freestroke and Titian's warmth divineIn such a short fleeting momentHer image represents a painter's masterpieceThere, in front of me and moving pastMy beauty, waking all her forms, suppliesAn angel's sweetness or Bridgewater's eyes.I'm still trying to registerThe form that just walked byOh, did she say hi?What eyes but hers have power over meI gather courage to persue her glorious form as it eclipses the dayAll along I contemplate; walking on thin ice or broken china?Should I steal the moment like SeleneFor what its worthShorty was made from the best things on the earthAnd like a courting game she back glancesI duck hoping she did not see my stolen chancesAs in a Greek tale the gods push me to her sideShe stops and at that momentMy mouth plays a draught tune on cementShe asks, 'do you have time?', we both knew we were starting the gameI said 'sorry no watch but what’s your name?'I looked into her eyes and realisedA treasure, which of royal kindFew but myself deserve to findHad she lived in the days of oldWhat wonders would have been told?Of her enchanting presenceAnd her humid eyes that danceIn the midst of their own brightnessIn the very fane of lightnessOver which her eyebrows, leaningPicture out each lovely meaning.On that brief meeting's slender filamentWe parted and my thoughts in turmoilReached speedily the ecclesiastical threshold bent.Days passed, leaves fell, and birds took flightI saw my love in and out of sightFresh as a rose in JuneI hoped sweet hope! Ethereal balm upon me shedWhenever I wander at the fall of nightTo help me strive to make her mine.Each morning we greeted in passingBoth shy to sound our hearts in asking.Water was sadness, air a visionEarth was thought, need I say of kissing?,But fire, fire was the willTo fit proportions with my altered stateQuench these felicities whose plight I findReflected in my heartBut when I see her meek and kindHeavens! How desperately do I adoreHer winning graces; - to be her defenderLight feet, summer green eyes and straight brown hairSoft hands, supple neck and caramel breastAre things on which the dazzled senses restTill the fond, fixed eyes forget they stareFrom such a fine picture, heavens! I cannot dareTo touch this celestial beingMy ear is wide open like a greedy sharkTo catch the fine tunings of a voice divineShe who wakes the breezeOr the sun going to sleep amongst the treesI made it my missionTo trod the same paths as herBrief greetings and butterfly smiles is all I saw.Like sweet morning dewShe disappeared from my sight's vestibulesI wandered lonely as a cloudI might grieve if I wished- surely grief was in orderOf these emotions, euphoria and dreadA bacchanal needs no wine or breadFate snatched her early to the whispering windBut, what do you know! I met her brother of sound mindWho imparts the place and address, my nectar of the gods I will findOnce more, my closed heart awakens!Down Fulton Street to love Supreme Avenue I hearkenMy heart awfully beating against my sideAnd to my heart I inwardly prayFor power to speak; but still I hoped the ruddy tideNot to stifle my voice and pulse to resolve away.Sight visions; I see her from a distance sitting in her officePretty and petite; the economy's number one choiceMy pace changes, a walk guarded by eternal timeFor I had seen my bowl of sunshine.She sees me and hastens to the frontlinePretense, a glass half full, flirtations of the eyesMy sunshine is in full view for me to see and sigh.My entrance is noted.  'Hi' says I'Hi, strange to see you this side, are you on business?' says Miss flyI conceal my reasons for being and said nayI knew what was; I felt full well what isThe moment was here to taste this earthly bliss.We spoke at length and bade each other farewellI left feeling the infinite wells blotting me swell.We spoke later that day, her voice soothing my inflamed heartTo breathlessness and suddenly a warmSoftly the breeze from her voice cameClear was the song from Ash baby's far bowerGrateful, the incense from the conversation towerWe laughed and flirted- creating a warmer emotion.My work, I put on stand stillI felt the need to excercise my free will.We began to knot like birds of a featherBefore the day passed we had to get togetherMy visits became more frequentA day out of sight became a tormentI soon forgot the sun, moon and starsAnd forgot the blue above the treesAnd forgot the wells where water runAnd forgot the chilly autumn breezeI had no knowledge when the day was doneAnd the mornings I saw not, but in peaceHung over my sweet Tupelo honey evermoreAnd moistened it with tears unto the core.We saw each other in the morningAnd if not, we spoke on the phone.I cancelled business obligations just to be with herHer office desk was always bathed in fresh flowersHer needs and happiness became the power.I walked her home and never left her aloneI saw and sung, my eyes inspiredI wished to be her choir and make a moanUpon midnight starsHer voice, my lute, her pipe, her incense sweetfrom swinged censer teemingHer shrine, her grove, her oracle, her heatof caramel mouthed prophet dreamingI will be a servant for herYes, I will be her priest; I will build a faneIn some untrodden region of my mindWhere branched thoughts, new grown with pleasant paininstead of pines shall murmur in the windFar, far around shall those dark clustered treesFledge the wild-ridged mountains step by stepAnd there by the waterfalls, streams, and birds and beesThe moss-lain dryads shall be lulled to sleepAnd in the midst of this wild quietnessA rosy sanctuary will I dressWith the wreathed trellis of a working brainWith all the gardener fancy ever could feignWho breeding flower, will never breed the sameAnd there shall be for her all soft delightThat shadowy thought can winA bright torch and a casement open at nightTo let the warm love in!My first love, prescribed by JoveI wonder if cupid's arrow found its markI want to kiss and hold her, but feel awkward and apart from the artThis must be love from the heavenly AphroditeCommon sense nudges, her feelings are not clearI try to coax and prod but she stays well clearExpressionless is she, lost in a soft mazeNon acknowledgement, the star seems to fadeWith these poor sufferings, a man like meHas to take steps to make it as real as it can beTo boldly go, where I had never gone beforeI spend $100-00 to this 'je'taime', let the fancy roamAdvertisement in the chronicle: I LOVE YOU TUPELO HONEYTo woo this image into nearnessDesired expectations are rendered uselessGiving into defeated feelings, this poet weptGrass grew and away withered.Same motions, unchanged and unbatteredBut great bliss was with us and great happinessGrew like a lust flower in June’s caressParting we seemed to tread upon the airTwin roses by the stem, blown apartOnly to meet again more closer and shareTo her home gone, a ditty fairSang of delicious love and honeyed dartI with light steps went up eastern hillAnd bade the sun farewell and joyed his fullBeauty is in the eye of the beholderMy Tupelo Honey must be seen-ah- a beauty peagant!She walks down the cat walk- sweet God!Treading on the verge of the seaTo parade and present the keepsake for meHer form seems floating palpable and nearThe crowd is enthralledThis must be a dove for sureInconstant, childish, proud and full of fanciesWithout that modest softening that enhancesThe down cast eye, a swan floating with shynessEven then my soul with excultion dancesLooking at her from a distance, I wished to dropOn soft grass, with my head on her kneeAnd lie dead still, while sheBreathed quite above me and the cropOf stars growing silentlyThe wonder, ethereal, I see, and hope for much moreFor now my head is, but pregnant with poetic loreMy wish, far-fetched as it mayIs to look into her eyes upon the morn of MayAnd place this poem-a little book-and hope for joys to awakeA dream for my Honey!Crowned with flowers purple, white and redFor there the lily and the musk-rose sighingAre emblems of tale of hopes and fearsOnes that I fostered in my youthful yearsI have confessed my love, she has notAt times its true I have felt painWhen such thoughts dart through my painIt brings to mind, the time I asked her outShe said she had something to think aboutIs there something I do not know? An answer I can do withoutMid-way between our homes; her accent clearStill sounded in my earsYou changed the footpath to the grassy plainSometimes I wanted to cry out!Oh! Let me have you whole, be mine!That shape, that honey dropOf love, her kiss; - those hands, those eyes divineThat warm caramel complexion, million pleasured breastYourself - your soul - in pity give me all!Withhold no atom's atom or I dieTonight, if I may guess, your beauty wearsA smile of such delightAs brilliant and brightAs when with ravished, aching vassal eyesLost in a soft mazeHad I been an ounce of RomeoThe ending of this poem would be pleasurable.Today I learnt she had another man.I do not understand, dancing music, music sadLaugh and sigh, and laugh again.Oh!, the sweetness of painTrust in us I had, true to the coreThis is unexpected, like hell without holeBroken twigs, broken sticksJealousy and love always result in a foolish mixShe introduces me to her man I smile, and hold my head high, the best way I canNo!, No! This cannot be!O melancholy turn your head away!I feel the pain of falling leaves and stems that break in stormsI realise, my muse, free to spell itShe is not mine! She won't be mine! She will never be mine!I will give her my love for eternity but she will not take itProphecy or thoughts deformed?The more I see her with him, the more I striveTo break this bond of Circe that I denyBut no!, the claws are in too deepMy heart says 'Yo Godbody, this is all for you to have and to keep'.I tried to break it off, true to my wordBut as always, I'm drawn back into her worldI... tried to find anotherMy mind always in constant wanderAll I ever wanted in return was her loveLove not me for comely graceFor my pleasing eye or faceNor or my constant heartLove me for meIf not, free my soul to take flight.Unexpected news reached my earI'm to travel to another land far, not nearMy heart is heavy, for we are to partFlowers of spring for my Tupelo Honey, symbolic to my feelingsOur relationship has not been consumed by touch of any artLets not our divining heartsForethink any illAnd our fears fulfillBut turned aside to keepThose who one another keepAlive never will be apart.My New World brought new things-refreshed sleepBut my queen on my mind, I will always keepConversations in abundance through the telephoneWe stay in touch everyday and every morn.Fantasies we share in hasteFulfillment of Five-year draught, we already envision the tasteFinally we meet, the agonizing moment of truthShe is more beautiful than I recalled.  Still true to her youthSo often had I envisioned, her beauty to beholdI marvel at what substance was the mouldThat made her so strikingly pretty and fair.Not earth, for her high thoughts more heavenly areNot water, for her image burns like fireNot air, for she is not so light or rareNot fire, for she freezes with faint desireThere need to be another element to inquireWhere she must have been made, that is, the skyFor to the heavens her haughty looks aspire.But, yes, as sad as it mayThe spark is gone like clean things in alleywaysThe meeting is brief, a relay sweepNo warmth or residue of any past relationshipFarewells are made in haste,So, alone, now disconsolateMourn to myself the absence of my loveAnd wandering here and there all desolateI try to revive the spark that rightfully belongBut it seems anything I say seems to be wrongBenefit of the doubt; she is seeing me with new eyesThis boy, this man, is not the man she fancies to embrace and praiseFor this logic thought is I have, if nothing, then I have naughtFriendship seems to be out of questionI pray one day for my Tupelo honey's resurrectionForest, hillsides, city avenues, such a wealth of themShould see me in flight,From this, the force that clouds my heart like a mistAs I close this Poetic pilgrimage, such a dry spring wellI opt to stay clear of such alien heart swellsFor I cannot endure such agonizing hellsMy love for her will always lingerForever, until I'm swept off by Stormbringer.I feel like I have been slain by a pretty cruel TupeloI hope some dayOver the mountainsAnd over the wavesUnder the fountainsUnder the gravesUnder floods that are deepestWhich Neptune obeyOur love will find a wayMy Tupelo Honey will always be a silhouetteImprinted at the back of my mind and in the middle of my heart.For now my life is on a go-go.I need love and companionship for slow flowI will speak not- I will trace not-I will breathe not her nameThere is grief in the sound- there is guilt in the fameBut the tear that now burns on my cheek will impartThe deep thought that dwells in that silence of heartAnd all that memory loves the mostWas once our only hope to beAnd all that hope adored and lostHas melted into memorySince there is no help, let us partNow I'm done, you get no more of meAnd I'm glad, yes, glad with all my heartThat thus so cleanly I write this last verseI declare myself free!,free!,free!Shake hands forever, cancel all our vowsAnd when we meet at any time again Be it not seen in either of our browsThat we were former something retainNow at this last gasp of my muse's last breatheWith my pulse failing, my heart frozen, passion speechlessRemember...A thing of beauty is a joy foreverIts loveliness increasesIt will never pass into nothingnessBut still will keep A bower quite for us, and a sleepFull of sweet dreams, and health, and quite breathing.Therefore, on every morrow, are wreathingA flowery band to bind us to the earth...THIS IS FOR YOU, SWEET TUPELO HONEY.STARTED ON: 23/05/1993  AT: 8:30pmFINISHED ON: 15/07/1999AT: 4:03AMExcuse the length of this poem, I suggest you print it out and read at your own leisure. It is based on a relationship spanning 5 years. It's a celebration of my first love, tracing our love from the day we met to the day we broke up. You will notice that I used words from some of my favourite old Poets purely to connect with what they felt when they wrote their poems and what I felt as I wrote this poem. I ain't thuggin' out here!!!!! Written November 28th, 2001 © on Nov 27 2001 11:45 PM PST   18 • 0 • 8