Elegy

Memories of you beneath the full moon

Dancing at the high tide of heaven’s rich boon,

Informs the cliffs and canyons of my soul:

With munificence so to crown your role,

            Yet maintain exquisite control!

            The memory has exacted its toll ….

Strontium Ninety in each falling bone

Have I been journeying forth alove

Through monasteries of mountain and of moor

And big city din of teeming public ways

Where changing lights brought no beloved face.

            I dream on still, of brocade in the night:

            Of jasmine trailing its soft allure

            And peacocks that made the dusk more bright.