I LIKE TO SAY YOUR NAME

I like to say
your name

when you're
not here

turn you
into sound

conjure you out of
thin air

so that you appear
before me

dressed in sound
only

memory sketching in
the rest of you

as if sound
was just an outline

and love
colours you in

adding the voice last
so I can hear you say.

"Hello you..!"
and there you are

as present
as present

can be.

I like to say
your name

when you're
not there.

If eyes roll
In the forest
Would a tree
Keel over
From ennui?

Holy, holy things appear,
Everywhere, and now, and here,
Ark of the Covenant, Rose of Sharon,
Mistletoe, and the Vessel of Charon
Rosary Beads and Holy Bread
Shaman’s Shaker, Shroud Print of Head,
Reliquary, Wand of a Fairy
Bone Marrow and Sacred Arrow
Tooth of Elk, Shell of Whelk…
Who’s to say what’s holy or not?
But about these things ****** battles are fought.

Submissive spirit,
shout your first exclamations!
Unashamed anger.

Love is a series
of appointments with pain.
You cannot avoid them
no matter what gain
you might make in the pocket book -
there’s still that locket - look!
What is inside? Lock of hair
or a picture reminds you that there
It is - the appointment shall not be missed on any account but see
What bliss it is to be loved and to love
Love live love, live love, love live love.

When all else is gone,
When I can’t hear the song,
And I must close my eyes,
Something inside cries
“It’s me! I’m here!
In a place without fear,
I’m the voice of love,
Sweet as heaven above.
Love is me, the real me.”
Me. Really.

Virginia Giglio
February 2019