Love

I Walk These Lonely Hills

~ Iyan Igma

I walk these lonely hills for you
Like a ship adrift at sea,
Wishing you’d come to take the helm
And rescue myself from me.

Bonaparte on Saint Helena
Knew not of my captivity,
Reclusive, exiled from power,
Parted from you, ma sweet cherie.

The leaves have grown, the trees have, too;
My anxiety ever grows
Like blossoms trapped under snow drifts
With tears freezing as they transpose.

Chirping birds call for you in spring,
And we both wait out your reply
So intent we barely notice
That the strong young have learned to fly.

I see the sun seeking by day,
And the moon mourns with me each night.
Often the spirits of the dead
Watch me with pity at twilight.

Years ago now we were to meet
To elope from this dense wildwood.
I wait. Love and hope never die;
If they were true they never could.

That night the storms blew around thick
Like a mine collapsing on me.
Surely the storm kept you away.
Why haven’t you yet come for me?

The wildwood is still undisturbed
Like the love that I have for you,
Though many moons have seen me wait
Unphased by the cold, heat, and dew.

I’ll wait for you, until I die,
And then should you come, love’d heal me,
Unlike the bones of some poor man
Whose love visits him faithfully

On the self-same day that we should
Have had our anniversary.
Her finger’s bare. She kneels. She cries.
Would you cry those same tears for me?

She found him years after I did;
He lies defunct in the ravine.
He must have taken a faux-pas
And stepped right into the unseen.

The more she comes, the more fancy
Starts to run away with my mind.
For though she’s old and weary now,
She looks more like you all the time.

On the Bed Where We Loved

~ Iyan Igma

Lying in the bed where we loved,
Where respect and appreciation were grown,
And our friendship was improved
Is the greatest torture ever known.

How many decades did we spend
Ill-clad and holding each other tight
Before there came this lonely end?
I miss you so much tonight.

If only I could hold you close,
Your head on my chest, hand in hair,
And hear you slumber in repose,
Then I could heal my heart’s great tear!

You became so much a part of me;
I learned to depend and trust in you.
Waking up, you were still and musky,
While passionate the whole night through.

I watch the ghosts of lovers past
Enjoy what has been taken from me.
I tell them, wishing that it could last,
To enjoy such vibrant intimacy.

Wrinkled skin that once was soft
Whispers across my heartbroken skin,
And no matter whatever the cost,
I’d long to tell you “I love you,” again.

You died today, though months before.
Your side is as cold as it was then
The morning when you woke no more
And my misery did begin.

Without you, I feel so hollow;
You taught me to live and be a man,
And I pray that quickly I can follow,
No longer knowing who I am.

To relive our years is my wish,
And I’d love you even more than before,
Now I know how much I miss your kiss,
Your company, your words, and so much more.

Each night I die without you,
And I awake each morn in hell,
The only thought that gets me through
Is that I might follow you soon, as well.

The One with Whom I Now Lay

~ Iyan Igma

I noticed when we met today
The tragic, nostalgic, longing way
You looked at the one with whom I now lay.

She’d never give in to your whim,
Since she knows that your affection’s slim,
While I dote on her and make her heart brim.

Years hence she gave her heart to you,
And the softness of her body, too.
But you neglected her till she withdrew.

Your heart was bleeding in your eyes,
Seeing how her sun blazes the skies
When cherished as befits a wondrous prize.

So, have the moon you left her for
And brood on treasures that vaults can’t store,
For she’ll lie blithe with me forevermore.

Five and Twenty

~ Iyan Igma

A. E. Housman warned me
But could not prepare me for you.
How could I heed the sagacious,
When you’re too good to be true?

Here now I’m five and twenty,
Having once been twenty-two,
Despaired from giving my heart in vain,
And hopelessly smitten with you.

And now my heart is bleeding,
And this fantasy can’t be true.
I don’t think my age would matter,
Thirty-five or sixty-two,

My heart would be laid open
Hoping for mercy from you.
I’ve no “pounds and crowns and guineas,“
Only love can I give to you.

How could you be satisfied
Just to be cherished a lifetime through?
I wish I had more to offer,
Like I wish to remain with you.

You’re marvelous and irresistible,
The most amazing woman I e’er knew!
And though I know it’s hopeless,
I know that I’m in love with you.

Hear now my sighs a-plenty,
But take me in your arms anew.
I can hurt and bleed tomorrow,
But for now let me treasure you. . .

I’ve loved these wondrous weeks—
A spring flower that early grew
Ere the last frost of the season.
Eternally I will miss you.

How can I e’er love again
Without recalling loving you?
And so it will ne’er be bittersweet
But sour to live without you.
How shall I feel completed
Having lost heart and soul to you?

As the Thornbirds

~ Iyan Igma

To think that I have loved as
The thornbirds on the vine,
Pure and sweet and passionate
And utterly sublime,

Beyond the wildest senses
Which I could never comprehend.
But such intensity comes at a price,
And my song is at an end.

The thorn in my chest, I can’t breathe;
So here I now die alone,
My soul having such a love
Beyond what could have been known.

And I would take three thorns
In my chest to feel again
The sweet intensity that filled me
Since my tragic love began.

Paradise Riven

~ Iyan Igma

We needed no heater
When our marriage was young,
For love was our warming fire,
And the air was sweeter
When it filled either lung.
Why did we let it expire?

They say that love is blind,
And truly I ne’er saw
Your many frailties. Instead,
All that my eyes could find
Was sweetness and pure awe.
Then, why should our love be dead?

I could almost eat off of love,
And it had the sweetest savour.
Love was such a glorious feast!
Fallen like fruit from high above,
It has the most rancid flavour;
You sup like a vulturous beast.

To love was to be in heaven,
And I worshipped you on your dais.
I was an Adam who ne’er fell.
But now paradise is riven,
And I have been exiled to lies.
Only Adam knows of my Hell!

Burning Beauty Across the Sky

~ Iyan Igma

O Love, you fickle meteor
Burning beauty across the sky,
Tempting my heart with amazement,
Though you know you’ll soon die!

I wish upon you to stay,
But in an instant you’re gone.
I see the remnants of your trail;
The night and I, we are alone.

I’m the one who’s consumed,
Though you have ceased to be.
Why wish upon another when
It won’t bring you back to me?

Worth Your Weight in Chocolate

~ Iyan Igma

You’re worth your weight in chocolate
(And double that in cacao)
Squared to infinity cubed
For each second starting now

Off into eternity,
How long I long you’ll be mine,
That’s roughly the potency
Of your love that I enshrine.

You flood me with chemicals
Like chocolate, and are sweet, too,
With just enough bitterness
That I fully savour you.

Memories of You

~ Iyan Igma

Hello again, another year’s gone,
But my love for you has remained true.
Though time, winds, and rain can etch out stone,
They can’t fade my memories of you.

The adventures we shared when we were young,
The follies of our innocent days,
All of the meaningless words we once sung,
Maturing together our own ways,

The problems that loomed above like clouds
Which we faced calling them funny shapes,
Our friendship’s warmth found amidst cold crowds,
The relief of our narrow escapes,

Departure’s cruel sting burning our eyes
With all the salt from the ocean’s deep
As we were dispersed like a dream flies
Quickly from the mind wakened from sleep,

And all of the sacred times we’ve known
Have given my life deeper meaning.
As years vanish more friends come along,
But on your shoulders I’m still leaning.

Though there may one day be a sad price
Paid in tears should one day our paths part,
You’ve taught me it’s worth the sacrifice,
For friendship never dies in the heart.

I may be far away from home now,
But you have remained a part of me.
My unfailing good luck charm, my Tao,
Is the worth of your friendship to me.

In the thoughts that strengthen me each day,
Gladdening my heart when I despair,
Your friendship will remain young always
Since to time and space love’s unaware.

How I hope we can have the chance to
Share more memories in coming weeks.
But if this wish is not to come true,
Then know what my heart sincerely seeks:

May you be blessed the entire year through,
Prospered, protected, and full of cheer.
Know that I dearly love and miss you.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Temperate Emotions

~ Iyan Igma

There’s blithe relief now in the air,
For the sorrow of the drought’s gone.
It’s been so long since the snare
Drum of rain and the woodwinds blown

And the melodic tuba of
Thunder have been heard in these parts.
Aye, spring’s enjoyed not just for love,
Which gladdens and deceives the hearts

Of many a spry lad and lass
And creatures stung by love’s potions,
But moreso for the storms that pass—
The weather guides our emotions.