Poem: THE LADY OF HAVENOT AND THE SEVEN WHISPERS

 

THE LADY OF HAVENOT 

AND THE SEVEN WHISPERS

 

the first whisper comes in off the estuary 

where she sits fretting in her high tower, 

it tells her of the call of wild geese 

on their migratory flight across the tides, 

the second whisper comes as the two moons set 

over the horizon leaving only a crown of scattered stars, 

it tells her of the desert stillness 

where nothing moves but sand-grains 

caught and thrown in the sirocco, 

the third whisper comes after she’s eaten a supper 

of pomegranate and clear heather-honey, 

and she’s brushed her hair at the mirror a hundred times 

and repaired to her bed chamber to sleep, 

it tells her of a lone galleon that sails beyond 

the edge of the world where the machineries 

of heaven can be heard in celestial murmur, 

the fourth whisper comes as she closes her eyes 

and sleep dances around the corners of her mind, 

it calls to her of freedom and desire, 

the merging of flesh in a sweet tenderness 

of poetry, wine and madness dressed only 

in a garment of kisses for she needs nothing more, 

the fifth and sixth whispers come in dream sendings 

on landscapes of sunflower blossoms drunk on pollen 

and trees are so tall they scrape patterns on the moons, 

the seventh whisper is a single word, 

but when she wakes it’s gone, and she aches at its loss, 

she wanders for a week and a day until 

she meets it again stooped at the village stile, 

she holds her breath for it to speak 

knowing the word will be either 

love, or death

 

Published in print and online at: 

‘UTOPIA SCIENCE FICTION Vol.1 Issue 2 (October)’ 

(USA – October 2020) 

www.utopiasciencefiction.com