(for Woman Unknown)
your steadfast heart is a sturdy easel
supporting my spirit as
I unleash myself upon life’s canvas
slather the colours, spill the paint
mix ugly tones with vibrant hues, and then
throw up my hands, hurl the canvas
and start once again
your nimble mind is a brilliant candle
lighting my brief passage through life with awareness
revealing new ways to think, see, hear, and play
chasing away phantom shadows
challenging me to go further, and
casting a forgiving light
over where I have stumbled
your enticing body is a coral lagoon
inviting me to dive in and
swim deeply into your most intimate colours
ensconced in the liquid embrace of your tenderness
gaze upon the shimmering dance of your light, and
marvel at the iridescent flurries of
joy swirling within and around you
for reasons outnumbering the stars
for better and for worse
forever and with all that I am
I Adore You
so together, My Love
let’s raise the goblet of joy to our lips
you drink from one side as I drink from the other
and we’ll delight in the heady notes and tannins of
wine vinted from rambling shared adventures,
grown in the warm soils of kindness, and
ripened under the golden rays of passion
~ Paul Raworth Bennett
Verbalis Neurotica 