Seven Metaphors for Distant Love
by Derek Hugen, 02-13-04
in honor of Valentine's Day
1.
Warm coffee is like deep shadow
Formed in intense light.
Steam curves and
Curls a path
From the glimmering reflection
To mornings slow rise.
2.
I sip her poetry silent,
And watch the stars,
Sit savoring the nuances of her words.
They create dictionaries
In my mind.
3.
I know the pipers melody plays
When a cool snake slips toward the sea.
Momentum and music carry me
Weightless like a feather falls soft.
4.
That old Simpsons episode
When they are lost in the dark forest
And Homer builds a trap.
The trap flings a badly-drawn rabbit
To a distant mountain.
We never learn more about this.
5.
The halogen overhang in my office
Flickers a strange pattern
Like Morse code to signal a ship.
6.
Her poetry alludes me like distant stars
Which I own only because I feel their breath
And heartbeat
As my own.
All I have is a dictionary before me,
And her slow soft consciousness
To gaze on from a distant mountain.
7.
Hi ho!
Where is truth
And that which is rational?
There is no rational,
And truth drowns in the sea. | 
