Poetry Corner: Love, Pain and Commitment

I'm very pleased to introduce my first two reader contributed poems; both astrologically themed and both in different ways speak of love, pain and commitment.  It seems that the topic of love and relationships, the ups and downs, the agony and ecstasy, strikes at the heart of what it means to be human.  M Scott Peck in his masterpiece 'The Road Less Travelled' remarked 'the act of loving is an act of self-evolution even when the purpose of the act is someone else's growth'.  He also goes on to say 'When we love someone our love becomes demonstrable or real only through our exertion - through the fact that for someone (or for oneself) we take an extra step or walk an extra mile.  Love is not effortless.  To the contrary, love is effortful'.  Saturn, the planet of boundary and restriction is exalted in Libra, the sign of relationship.  Looking at Pecks descriptions we can see why this is - the effort of extending ones ego boundaries, the commitment to self and others and the hard work involved.  Enjoy the poems :-)

Stargazer by Johnny Mirehiel

I track the planets across
the familiar coffee-stained pages
of a dog eared ephemeris,
look into the urgent eyes of - a stranger.
She leans forward, haunches
catching the edge of her chair
perched on spindly front legs.

There on my pad – a chart,
her fingerprint on infinity.
I read what she needs,
tell her what she wants…
and, turning away,
she fills in the rest
with what she thinks I said.

In the morning, bags packed,
she clanks her keys on the kitchen counter
and catches the Westbound 6:15.
I heat last night’s stale coffee,
burn the toast again
and stare into the pre-dawn winter sky,
Venus rising. 

Pluto’s Arrow by Beth Turnage

The Lion’s Moon in the frigid blue grey sky
Large and bright
Hanging in the tips of dark trees laid bare by Winter’s grasp
Championed by the planet of war and love
Dare you pry open this wanderer’s heart with
Memories of love long past
Impossible contraband
Delivered not by Cupid’s bow, but Pluto’s arrow
Poison and fire
That run through my veins even now
Though the hour of those times are long past
The ghost of which stands by me still
When I recall brown eyes
That melted all resistance

Picture copyright Maria Li