Castalia

no, on these eastern shores of Arabia
I care little for the delicate lilt
as the celestial zephyrs billow towards
the ethereal resting places of love and hope
the skies here are the humble knight
guarding a thousand years of desert sands
his eyes a universe of the most spectacular ultramarine
where thirteen suns of as many yellows, golden and amber
nourish an oasis filled with jasmine, their branches
enlacing in intricate mosaics of perfumed perfection

her song beckons, I must travel farther
to greet the islands of the Aegean seas
Alonissos, Lesbos, Mykonos
to call to her from her vivid azure waters
here she inspires a man’s visions of desire
she is Castalia, my nymph, my ardor
the siren bewitching all of my raison d’être
I have neither a callous heart nor a belligerent tongue
I am but a tender warrior of love, seeking her embrace
I beseech thee, my illustrious naiad with lips of quicksilver
sing your seductive rhymes, verse your rhythmic tears
so that I may sway, hypnotized, and offer you my eternity

and in a maelstrom of turbulent wind
formed by the overwhelming emotion
caught spinning from her raven eyes
she responded
thou, noble hunter of my heart
my hope for love cannot shimmer in any mortal reflection
my fate is sealed in a marble fountain at Delphi
though there can be nothing fortuitous in our encounter
Zeus, Poseidon and Amphitrite, the deities of my people
have predicted your amorous venue, laughing at human lust
and command our sacrifice for mystery and magic…
I implore you, gallant troubadour
from faraway empires of the Dancing Moon
return to the glistening shores of your beloved Xiamen
speak to your friends and disciples of freedom
oracles and phoenixes, dragons and legends
though fondness arouses love as you listen
to the tranquility found in the trickling waters
of your homeland — remember me forever
with daily obeisance to the thirteen suns of my destiny


Castalia
[2008.8.2…b]