I
This mystic draw, these pangs I feel for you—
Are they mere sparks, the scent of pheromones,
Complex reactions deep within our bones
Compelling what transpires between us two?
Or is it something science never knew,
Unreached by every method it condones,
The greatest of its myriad unknowns,
Yet which its wiles cannot deny is true?
The latter! This strange force we call our love.
Is more complex and powerful by far
Than any fact of biochemistry,
Yet just as real. Its ecstasy hints of
Things far beyond what science says there are—
At once fate, miracle, and mystery!
II
Is it just thrust and throb of passion’s throes,
The panting palpitations of rapt breasts—
Or are they mere expression that attests
Joint destiny some force outside us chose?
Does it surge from the depths as Etna blows,
A fire that bursts and dies but never rests—
Or rise like snow-clad Himalayan crests,
Beyond all pangs and pain, desires and woes?
My senses speak first, say the first is true,
For my own body tells me to deny
The ecstasy, you brought it, is to lie;
Then reason speaks and says the latter, too,
Describes our love, for once the body’s fire
Is quenched, your soul evokes a pure desire.
VI
The night is our domain; here we hold sway,
Each other’s monarchs, joint and absolute,
With no liege but each other to salute,
Free from the bonds imposed by tyrant day,
Each sovereign, each holding each at bay.
In shade and starlight, all else fallen mute,
We give each to the other and transmute
This night into a world we shape our way.
The ecstasy of our nocturnal reign
Embraces all, leaves nothing but to spurn
False worldly crowns and honor in their place
One subject—she who also is my queen;
One law—to love and be loved in return;
One realm—two souls unbound by time or space.
VII
I am the sun, the orb that flames aloft,
Intently coursing, measuring the days,
Intense with white-hot, omnipresent blaze,
That blinds and sears when the clouds’ cloak is doffed.
You are the moon. Your orb glows silver, soft,
Mysterious in your ever-changing ways.
You know day, but night’s darkness best displays
Your muted beauty that enchants so oft.
Yet when our paths cross, all my fiery power
Cannot withstand the passage of your form;
It overcomes my fires, consumes my day.
The heavens darken as the midnight hour,
To veil our union, in which we transform
Time, space, and heaven in our interplay.
Adam Sedia (b. 1984) lives in his native Northwest Indiana and practices law as a civil and appellate litigator. He has published four books of poetry and his poems, essays, and fiction have appeared in various literary journals. He is also a composer, and his musical works may be heard on his YouTube channel.
