Gale and Lark

Betwixt the snow and rain that falls upon
The head of snowy white, a once raven
Dyed twine that glistened in the darkness,
Is nothing but a glistening ocean
Of nothingness; so that out of this void
Is said to come something. And looking up
You smile, your lips part in a childlike grin
As you spin around, and around again!
And your head shines in the dark like the sun
Since underneath the lamppost you have fun.
And I do merely look upon your joy;
Here in the dark. I remember the boy
That once saw a girl and called out to her
With a timid squeak; an embarrassed peak
That almost was the end of me! I'd have
Run faster than a kite in hurricane 
Season had you not been listening for
My call; you were waiting like a morn lark
Waits for the dawn; you sang, and turned my tracks
By singing out your heart from behind locks
Of blackened sheen. My task was lightened by
A single blessing I had never thought
Could ever be, that you had longed, as I
For you, for me. Now I call out to you,
And you stumble back, surprised. In the snow
Your grin takes on character, a grimace;
For any woman knows the sound her beau
Makes. And this grimace hides underneath it
A daring plan, a joke. From beneath that
Lamppost you call me to join your revels,
That together we might throw out devils
That do muster beyond the lamp lit fray,
And remain locked in arms until the day
Do take us to heaven; if it may.
Smiles do take us by surprise, and so was
I taken by her smile beneath the lamp
Light. With heavy steps that spoke of my age
I lumbered forward. No longer a page
As in my youth was I, no handsome knight
In shinning armor that could make you sigh,
No clever gentleman of humerus
Gab, I have no intellect! I must stab
Out and take a risk in walking to you;
But risk it I will, for I love you. True
Heart that beckons to mine own I will walk,
Voice that beckons me speak I will talk! Face
That bespeaks of beauty I will gaze on!
And though I am but an old man that's gone
From youthful fancies, whose lost fancies breed,
Still I'll love you more than any young seed.
Now five paces away I stop to look,
I see in you a story, such an open book!
From the tip of your toes beneath brown shoes
To the tip of your hair made white from age,
I see in you a woman fair, and choose
To saunter on,  am forever your page.
You regain your feet, and your smile becomes
Lost in those telling blue eyes of cold steel
Made bitter sweet by wounds that did heal. Did
You step nearer to me? I could not tell!
For I am lost forever, your eyes fell
Me like a tree and I would topple were
It not for your hands around my waistline.
Here we are, wrapped together, lost in time.
And from my mouth comes the nightingales part,
For I must sing my piece, my heart must start.
I never look away as I sing. Your
Eyes brim with tears, I feel your golden ring
Upon your aged hand dig into mine,
Your head collapses on my chest, you pine
With joyful memories of love and life...
Now my song is done, but not yet is strife.
You take up the song from where you are still,
The dawn begins to shine, your song doth fill
The open air with peals of a woman's
Glee, you proclaim from your heart our story.
Betwixt the light of the sun and the dark
We stand and we sing, the gale and the lark.
Underneath the light of a old lamppost
Two are one; two of the least become most.

                Gale and Lark, (c) Luke Bennette, December 2012