From the Watchtower

From the tall, unreachable watchtower

For centuries I have watched life roll by,

the ebb and tide of others' fortunes

on which I cast a benign eye…

And from this window so high up

Nearly, dearly, touching a cloud:

Here have I sat and chanted,

Talked to myself, aloud,

While life rolled by unheeded

chances of happiness strolled past;

But finally, eyes wide open, I can

See into the future, at last.

So now I step carefully, down

these steps for to atone:

Mistakes made in the haste of youth

to no longer trudge alone.

I can't put a name to what we may have

Perhaps a beatific, wondrous, gentle-grained light

Unsought, unsublimated, unconstricted emotion

Boundless, bond-free, like a bird in flight.

If you call to me from where you stand

grounded in your life, in cords so strong;

If you call to me to share some of your life

ask me to walk along,

I will meet you down in the shingle

take one of your hands in mine;

my mortality clutched in the other clenched fist

our stars forthwith to align

to make this moment last forevermore

be as vast and inviting as the sky

to let love take flight like an unbroken bird --

there, with the grace of you, will I fly.