Marianne Lyon has been a music teacher for 39 years. After teaching In Hong Kong she returned to the Napa Valley and has been published in various literary magazines and reviews such as Colere 2015, Crone 2015, Trajectory 2014, Earth Daughters 2015, Feile-Festa 2015 Whirlwind 2014-2105. She spends time each year teaching in Nicaragua. She is a member of the California Writers Club, Healdsburg Literary Guild.
Love Affair with the Moon
When I fall in love
I want him to lay his head
on my warm liquid body
float over my heart like a lotus.
When I fall in love
I want him to taste my mouth
eat me in silent communion
lick me luminous.
When storms rage
I want him to slip from obtrusive clouds
calm my turbulent soul
teach me to sing
his wordless glistening language
inspiring countless poets to
embroider phrases like
Love Affair with the Moon
When I fall in love
I want him to lay his head
on my warm liquid body
float over my heart like a lotus.
When I fall in love
I want him to taste my mouth
eat me in silent communion
lick me luminous.
When storms rage
I want him to slip from obtrusive clouds
calm my turbulent soul
teach me to sing
his wordless glistening language
inspiring countless poets to
embroider phrases like
“We all Shine On”.
When I fall in love with him
I want to be a faithful mirror
hold his face like a shroud
believe in its magic
feel his burning gaze
pierce me like a hawk on a hunt
I want him to seize me dripping
lift me into his world called Heaven
No longer am I mountain lake
but a tracing of him
his sailboat, he my guide
When I fall in love with the moon
I want a love that promises
a return each night
to dance anchored
in the symphony of the wind.
When I fall in love with the Man in the Moon
I want the aged white owl
who frequents my shore
to feel the pulse of our ecstasy.
When I fall in love with him
I want to be a faithful mirror
hold his face like a shroud
believe in its magic
feel his burning gaze
pierce me like a hawk on a hunt
I want him to seize me dripping
lift me into his world called Heaven
No longer am I mountain lake
but a tracing of him
his sailboat, he my guide
When I fall in love with the moon
I want a love that promises
a return each night
to dance anchored
in the symphony of the wind.
When I fall in love with the Man in the Moon
I want the aged white owl
who frequents my shore
to feel the pulse of our ecstasy.
I Burn
Starry Starry Night
undulates through my kitchen window
a single pulsing star fixes a gaze on me
descends through the pane
can not blink away his presence
wing-hands flutter “not to fear”
he pulls my eyes like a coaxing lover
lightning lips bid me spend the night with him
I ask him, “why me?”
angels appear to saints
don’t remember performing three miracles
don’t want the stigmata—painful
too old for a virgin birth
his silent stare orbits shards of a kaleidoscope
uncomfortable, I make small talk
tell him I’m interested in his world called heaven
love the poem Choose Something Like a Star
how Frost asks a star for something
the star tells him only that he burns
I ask him, “Can you elaborate?
He just shimmers like a diamond
“Is your name Gabriel?”
“Are comets and meteors really souls of loved ones?”
“Do you like Van Gogh’s Starry Ni….”?
In mid-question I began to hear him in color
reds, magentas, golden strokes
His voice sings shapes of molten sound
standing free in the air without human wrappings
I breath in his sound
recognize a few words: char, phoenix, transform
“Where do you find words for your songs?” I grin
He smiles back with a sigh
flames flicker from his hands
beckons me to dance
so warm to the touch
I lay my head on burnished shoulder
feel him slow waltz me into the fire
A poet
is a comet
whimsical
messenger
slices
radiant night
soars
through
heavenly
fireworks
explodes
molten rhymes
extraterrestrial
stories
sprinkles
luminous
confetti that
quenches
our thirsts
orbits us
closer and closer to
beckoning Sun
then singes
plunges
us in fire
~Marianne Lyon
~Marianne Lyon
