after Amabella
Flip the card of the Lovers in reverse;
tell your fears to clear out the orbs
encircling your head like premonitions.
You have been dreaming of wings
large like candle-cast shadows;
weigh the lift of love from below
where the feet don't touch the ground,
the limp of her extended hand is nemesis,
is expression of bondage – read it upright –
is the look of Judgment, calling the Wheel
of Fortune to appear in the midst of scatter;
array of hope, as variety, as many as cups,
as untamed as a lion at the beckon
of a woman, as the Moon clear as daylight.
Sheath the sword of the Queen,
there is no truth to be told –
truth is a nail in a forest, elusive
and magical – because you've fallen
in love – keep the card downwards
when the Empress lifts her scry;
her throne the cold of a stone
knowing to be wary of Knights.
And then draw the Devil, deliberately;
unshackle the couple, watch him smirk
as they run separate ways. They wrote
their destinies before coming together
in a new life – the past is centuries
of starseeds never waking to purpose.
Now, glance out of your window.
Watch the night alight from vapour trails.
First published in Lothlorien Poetry Journal