communion

Among violet grapes nurtured by the sun, adorning platters
roasted meats and aged cheeses entertained the senses
Over mirth and laughter, the strum of a lyre could be heard
choreographing blurs of silver and teal, crimson and gold
You brought me here with a great crowd, to ask for my hand

As elephants trumpeted outside with the din of braying goats
that wild, fiery look in your eyes told of great stories
It beckoned, there are things to be done, impossible tasks in store
A gentile touch ensured you would see me through, you wouldn’t leave
your enduring love would last until the end of the age

A goblet raised in celebration, offered up as an invitation
This union to be sealed with a sip of acknowledgement
The sweet fermentation stung my tongue on contact
I drank deeply and it burned warm throughout
affirmation sunk in like a rock thrown down a well

It was a fleeting peace, a momentary perfection
To build a home you had to go away, over the mountains
but while you are busy making, I miss your laugh and your gaze
My broken places have overgrown like so many weeds after a rain
I can hardly remember your essence at dawn and dusk

You have departed and been absent for numerous generations
This desert grows larger by the day and the springs are drying up
It is all I can do to crawl towards our home, where I think you are
You were going to come back, a triumphant return to your beloved
and though I cannot see your face, I will wait for you, only for you

Winds have picked up, whipping my tattered garments
The sun has baked my skin to a cracker, my lips are of paper
I am a melon smashed upon the mountainside, muscles liquefied
Through blurry eyes smeared with salt and blood, I look up
coming from a distance, a figure races against the clouds of sand

Oh, my God! My God! My God!

Ride towards me with zeal and ferocity, rescue me from this state
I can no longer move towards you, for my joints have swollen
In your silhouette I see your squinted eyes determined to meet me
You are leaning on your steed, parallel to its white mane
Bright robes of the purest pearl slap against the wind, come quickly

Pressing on one knee, I struggle to lift my dry, withered carcass
I cannot weep for my tears evaporated long ago, but my lips tremble
In a surge I open my arms, as you dismount with furious velocity
Our bodies crash in a sweet embrace, a passionate wreckage
Breath returns to my chest, color to my skin, my lungs are racing

Dust rises off my body in a cloud, our collision scraping off my death
I choke with laughter as you hold me and press a kiss upon my brow
Your stare says my boy, my son, I have come for you, as you cradle me
I close my eyes and fall into you, forgive my fatigue, Father
Place me on your back, for I want to go where you are going this day

and forever.