Athine

Take me everywhere you think to go, even if
it's at the last minute; even if it seems random:
occupied territories, empty seaside coffee bars,
police-cleared squares and places that rise up.
We don't know what may matter, later,
and everywhere is how I'll always find you.

Have we been these long years without poetry,
waiting for our voice, this far from Ithaka?
And did you know I'd met your monsters in my dreams,
half-templed, half-felt dread of ruin, hardened saviours,
holy with their lust and wholly without reason?

I don't go anywhere without my chemicals these days.
I test for pH levels everywhere I walk.
But rain here falls within a normal tolerance,
so I can climb now, will myself to look upon your face.

We spoke of joy against a sky of x's and of y's,
and knew it meant that we might walk a path
to lead us far beyond desire and other ironies;
a path, familiar, to that place I now can name,
while waiting for our voice, this far from Ithaka.