For Bob Dylan on his birthday

Guru devotion

Being such a fan
of actual physical love

all these years
I -off and on
flirted with the idea
of loving an entity
a spirit
a physical person- but removed
out of reach
in-accessible
by reason of distance
or taboo

Love of another nature.

to simply gaze on an image of the Beloved's face
brings overwhelming joy
the sound of the Beloved's voice
is heart breaking.

I could not imagine
a love like this without conclusion
then I realized that is how I feel
about you.

Fading

More remote become
the years the memories
Harder to recall
the little details

Things once so important
love affairs heartbreaks
pains losses
births deaths
grandmothers mothers
fathers sisters brothers
gone long ago

Did we ever think
they would fade so?
A dream is the only place
they come to call
So real there
down to my son's baby curls
or a precious lover's skin

On waking
I am startled to see
where I am
Oh this is my life now

That other one is gone
Sadness for things lost
but surprise at how it fades by day