It Must Be So

Lord Byron (1788 – 1824)

A Riddle on the Letter E

The beginning of eternity, the end of time and space,
The beginning of every end, and the end of every place.

Lord Byron

 

If That High World

by Lord Byron

If that high world, which lies beyond
Our own, surviving Love endears;
If there the cherish’d heart be fond,
The eye the same, except in tears –
How welcome those untrodden spheres!
How sweet this very hour to die!
To soar from earth and find all fears
Lost in thy light – Eternity!
It must be so: ’tis not for self
That we so tremble on the brink;
And striving to o’erleap the gulf,
Yet cling to Being’s severing link.
Oh! in that future let us think
To hold each heart the heart that shares;
With them the immortal waters drink,
And soul in soul grow deathless theirs!


On Parting

by Lord Byron

The kiss, dear maid! thy lip has left
Shall never part from mine,
Till happier hours restore the gift
Untainted back to thine.
Thy parting glance, which fondly beams,
An equal love may see:
The tear that from thing eyelid streams
Can weep no change in me.
I ask no pledge to make me blest
In gazing when alone;
Nor one memorial for a breast,
Whose thoughts are all thine own.
Nor need I write to tell the tale
My pen were doubly weak:
Oh! what can idle words avail,
Unless the heart could speak?
By day or night, in weal or woe,
That heart, no longer free,
Must bear the love it cannot show,
And silent ache for thee.

Raw Rose Crystal Sediment Of The Sun

A Cold February Morning in Minnesota, 2021.

To Find A Kiss of Yours

Federico García Lorca – 1898-1936

translated by Sarah Arvio

To find a kiss of yours
what would I give
A kiss that strayed from your lips
dead to love

My lips taste
the dirt of shadows     

To gaze at your dark eyes
what would I give
Dawns of rainbow garnet  
fanning open before God— 

The stars blinded them
one morning in May

And to kiss your pure thighs
what would I give
Raw rose crystal  
sediment of the sun

*

[Por encontrar un beso tuyo]

Por encontrar un beso tuyo,
¿qué daría yo?
¡Un beso errante de tu boca
muerta para el amor!

(Tierra de sombra
come mi boca.)

Por contemplar tus ojos negros,
¿qué daría yo?
¡Auroras  de carbunclos irisados
abiertas frente a Dios!

(Las estrellas los cegaron
una mañana de mayo.)

Y por besar tus muslos castos,
¿qué daría yo?

(Cristal de rosa primitiva,
sedimento de sol.)


In a year when its easy to think about all the things that are unavailable or have changed, I have to remind myself once in a while how amazing it is to be alive, how truly blessed I am.  On this Valentine’s Day, I am thankful to be in love, to be loved and to still have the capacity to be amazed how beautiful the world is, even when its -15 F degrees below zero.  I am grateful that I know the raw rose crystals of the sun. 

Happy Valentines Day!