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@ 27.055 MHz: Ad Astra; Foliage, 03, More Than What The Hubble Or The Webb
"non iniussa cano."
---Vergil, Eclogue VI
More than what the Hubble or Webb can show us,
I can see transcribed in your eyes the whole Cosmos'
leading and trailing edges and all of the stellar beauty between
them: stellar beauty that your present beauty exceeds, the
way a seashell the tides deliver to the sandy shore, is
more tangible than some prehistoric specimen on the ocean floor.
This is what it is like to love you, SweetLeaf;
Love that will never willingly stoop to grief;
Love like the Faith that thrives on robust belief.
First, I have to warn you
First, I have to warn you that I may begin to sound like a raving, rhapsodizing fan, but I assure you I'm being sincere. I don't have the time or energy to express enthusiasm I don't deeply, honestly, feel or to give a lot of attention to poems that don't crack open my heart, so stay with me and believe me as I give you my impressions of this work:
This is the type of poem that is much larger us; it travels so far from this constrained little world that it is much like an out of body experience and I want to shout: so this is what ultimate reality looks like!
It is a true love poem.
You begin with a voyage to the soul by way of the eyes, and that soul, that essence, that spark of the Infinite Flame, is so colossal in its glory that our present technology could never capture its equivalent magnificence though it searches light years and light years of unfathomable vastness.
But the purest love doesn't stop at admiration, though you expressed this with enveloping, transporting splendor. The highest love demonstrates itself, proves itself, gives its whole self, and that's what the epicenter of your poem accomplishes . . . like a wisp of beauty with ferocious power.
No sacrifice is too great and no pain too crushing to keep faith and hope from living forever. That's love, and if I were handing out awards for a poem that best expressed true love, I would, hands down, say "Here, take this. You earned it." Guess we'll just have to leave that up to a much higher power.
Still savoring this. Congratulations!
I ask you to forgive my delay
I ask you to forgive my delay in response; delay not because of medical issues or any incapacity, but delay due to my admitted lack of words sufficient to thank you for this superlative, excellent, and very validating comment---the finest, I think, that you have placed on my Ad Astra series.
Can silence offer gratitude? In this case, I hope it does. My usual verbosity fails in the presence of your comment.
Starward
In this case silence was a
In this case silence was a great honor. Thank YOU for your appreciative and deeply moving reply.