The boy and his dear lover

Part I

The place he thought he once would stand was only but a dream
The boy cried out for his lover's hand as he waded into the sea
"Fear not, my love, for I am here, and I shall lay right next to thee”
The boy grew tall and faced the wind, "It is no longer I, it is only we”

The two became one under the warmth of the sun
Golden rays poured down and flickered
The folding lands puffed crystals of sand
Her amber-shaded eyes were like mirrors

The light on the horizon began to glow
Curtains of clouds commenced the start of the evening
The day was done, darkness had enclosed
The stars danced, and the moon was beaming

The sand was like sugar, sweet on the skin
As the boy whispered softly to his lover
“I am here, my dear, it matters not where you have been
For we are one, and I shall lay with thee forever”

The wind blew, and through the waves the lovers veered
A light pulled them towards the blackened night sky
Angels were singing, harmonies filled their ears
The boy glanced over and began to cry

For never before had he known the divine
Her eyes turned eternity into a second
“There is only now, there is no existence of time”
He could no longer die, for he was already in heaven

Part II

She was all that he could hear
It was oh, so loud, and oh, so clear
And as she swayed amongst the trees
She whispered softly in his ear

“Walk with me, to the river we’ll go
The sun will shine, and the water will glow”
The path had opened, hand in hand they strode
“I’ve no love to give, please forgive me so”

“No, no, my dear, it matters not what you can give
You’ve always been my lover, for eternity we shall live”
His sight grew clearer as the light turned dim
His soul met her soul as they touched each others’ lips

Shadows move like a slow river through the trees and leaves, photographed by Ray Bilcliff.

Part III

His lover came to him on a cold, misty morning
The sky was dancing purple as the sun split the clouds
Her ladies were with her, they all walked up the pathway
The wind was in the caves, and he heard not a sound

“My mother, the mountain, she whispers to me sweetly
I drink from her streams, and I cry in her arms”
His lover smiled at him as she bathed in the sunshine
He turned for a second, he blinked, she was gone

The wind came alive, she blew him to the treetops
She gently quietened down, her howling was through
The boy’s lover was standing at the edge of the cliff face
Light was coming from her, shimmering gold, shimmering blue

“Perhaps the same bird echoed through us both yesterday
For when I sing you dance, and when I cry you feel pain”
The echoes returned as they gazed over the ocean
The heavens bellowed deeply, and down poured the rain

The stars were jealous of her as she shone in the moonlight
Their day had been good, so they welcomed the night fall
And as he lay there in her arms, their bodies turned to water
“Lover, we are one, you are mine, I am yours”

The sea turns to glass and the sky descends to see it herself, photographed by Ray Bilcliff.

Part IV

The boy strolled out of his front door, and he ran to Valhalla
He sprinted up streets, along paths of green
He walked on the water as light shone from the streams

The place was high above the clouds
Hidden in the deepest part of the mountain’s soul
He was tired, he was hungry, he was weak
He found it at a time when the sun was on the horizon, gently kissing the sea

Tulips and daffodils danced with the wind
As they lead him through the gates of the palace
He craved a drink from the crystal-blue oasis
A voice sounded, “Here, take this cup, taste this”

An angel appeared from the shadows
And the boy smiled as he drank the sweet wine
Her satin-silk dress draped softly over her breasts
He lay down for a moment, she joined him and placed her head on his chest

Her hair smelled of lavender and jasmine
He felt the warmth of a golden summer’s day
Her name was Hypatia, she was a daughter of the sky

He forgot who he was with the touch of her skin
He went swimming in the whirlpools behind her eyes
Hypatia read books about poetry and astronomy
She was sisters with the moon and the stars
She spoke softly and all would listen, the butterflies would flee from their prisons

The lightning would strike on the hills far away,
and the thunder would cry in the distance
The hummingbirds shrieked out in wonder
as the tears from the heavens put out the fire in the barren field

Hypatia whispered as the boy drifted to sleep,
“I will meet you in your dreams
Where the sun shines brightly and the angels always sing
We are one, my love. I am you, you are me”

Part V

The day was a day where the wind hid away
She was tired, she was resting in the caves
It’d been five long months, she’d been blowing all winter
’Twas September, and the seasons were blending again

The absence of the wind was felt on the skin of the boy
as he walked in the morning's rays
The air was soft, the haze was thin,
and the blue was dressed with ripples of grey

The boy walked and walked, he was looking, he was searching
His eyes focused on the distant bend
At the end of the pathway, among the jasmines and the lilies
Stood his lover, his dear sweetheart, his beloved friend

She was bathing in the sunshine, she was singing with the robins
The light kissed her gently on her face
And as the boy strolled over, he softly touched her shoulder
She smiled, and she held him in her embrace

The two intertwined underneath the purple sky
As the heavens cried clouds of golden rain
The boy quietly sighed, he glared at his reflection in her eyes
“We are one, my love. You and I, we are the same”

The lovers looked up at an ocean of orange
Above them was a canopy of willow trees
In howls of celebration, the wind gleefully returned
She wailed, and she flew between the leaves

The boy’s lover lay in his arms
She began to weep as the moon painted a canvas of black and red
“You have always been my lover, please hold my while I sleep
The only thing that shall part us is death

But even then will I still see you
I will meet you in the evenings where the heavens kiss the seas on the horizon
You will find me in the shadows, in the sounds of the beating drum
In the lavender swaying splendidly on the mountain

Before death, however, I will be old and tired and weak and frail
And blind, but I will still be able to see
For I know that we will still be one, my body will still be your body
I will be tired, but I’ll still be forever free

For now, under the stars, whisper sweetness in my ears
Join me, and together we shall lay
As we welcome the night, please hold me while I dream
And I shall see thee in the morning when we wake”

The grass sways in the gold, catching the last light of the day, photographed by Ray Bilcliff.

Part VI

The sky and the sea blended into one, into a oneness that was pure and real
The sun cast a golden hue over all of the souls laying in the sand
The boy spoke with the divine spirit that afternoon
An afternoon where they spoke of death but felt very much alive

The physical melted away, and their bodies became free like the water
For a brief moment, he couldn’t see anything other than himself when he looked into her eyes
He couldn’t hear anything other than his own words when he listened to her speak

And that night he lay awake in bed, he was floating on a cloud of dreams
He was staring at the moon, and he travelled through a tunnel of white into infinity
He was awakened from his slumber at the seventh hour of the next morning
On the seventh day of the seventh month of the year
He lay in bed dreaming that previous evening, the light of the night kept him awake
He stared deeply into the eyes of the sky
He was alone with the great spirit, so intimate it was
“We are one. There is no such thing as I”

This great spirit visited him in the form of an angel
She welcomed him into her golden circle of light as they lay on a shimmering canvas of love and warmth
Her touch so soft and gentle, so calm it eased the fear of death

Later that day, he could smell the ocean air from the sanctuary of his garden
He could hear his brothers singing and drumming on the corner of the street
He dreamt of a land where everyone could love each other
He wondered if he’d ever be able to dance again with the golden rays of his lover, the great divine

“My lover is light, she is the moon in the night
She is golden in the sand in the afternoon rays
My lover is pure and still like the blue of the ocean’s waves

My lover hath travelled from distant lands
She carries a shroud of yellow from the Pharaoh’s tomb
My lover will travel for ever more
She can hear in the distance as the mountains softly call

My lover is free like the wind
She cries only tears of joy in the evening as she lays on a bed of flowers
I feel her warmth in my soul in the stillness of the morning’s hours

And I mourn on this day as she is taken away
The sky is sad too, she cries tears of grey rain

And I plead with the moon, asking when my love will return
She fades behind the clouds on this evening of misery
I ask her what makes the sky blue on a lovely summer’s day
She tells me the great spirit splashes tears of white in the morning when the sun rises

I was lovers with the divine for a few hours
We dreamt of a life of peace and oneness
I sang songs of pain and liberation, she spoke stories of beauty and purity

I met her at the window of the ocean’s soul
The water was a mirror, the waves opened like doors
We saw eternity in each other’s eyes”