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Monday, December 14, 2009

The Triangle of Love



The Triangle of Love


We bitterly quarreled that evening like children.
I loitered and dawdled to your great disgust,
And the sunset turned purple before we left home:
With dogs on their leashes, at last we could walk;
You stomped past the houses, complaining in silence
While the sky flamed its final fuchsia hurrah

And there in the purplish blue field overhead
Were three strangely aligned bright heavenly lights
Arrayed in a cozy triangular way,
Ablaze in the sky like diamonds on velvet.
The fingernail moon and two planets combined
In a triangle just a hand’s breadth in size.

I oohed and I aahed while you stormed down the sidewalk
Not speaking to me, still angry I’d dawdled.
We formed our own angles, you and I and the dogs;
The dogs were the moon, and we were the planets.
I must have been Venus; you were probably Mars.

The news said the trinity blessed us that evening;
It would never appear in our lifetimes again.
The triangle of love, I called it in private.
Because it arose in the sky, I forgave you.
Because we are also a mere hand’s width apart.

In the triangle of love, romance hasn’t vanished:
It has only rushed skyward and sparkles above us;
We’ll once again find it if we lift our eyes upward.
You’re Mars, I am Venus; let forgiveness unite us
And the dogs keep us plodding the road of our marriage.




This poem takes poetic license with the facts: Last year's triangle was formed by the moon, Venus and Jupiter.


Photo credit: media.nowpublic.net

17 comments:

RNSANE said...

This is such a beautiful poem.

Shadow said...

i can almost picture you two, walking down the road, with your pups. 'complaining in silence', what an image. so very accurate too...

Karen said...

Your poetry is always honest, Chris, and REAL. I love how this one focuses on only your point of view, your own culpability in creating the situation and your own recognition of the temporariness of the situation and of the blessings you received and retain.

The references are perfect for the photo and situation - angles and lines, "a mere hand's width apart", rushing upward and sparkling and bringing us back to earth as we plod the marriage road.

Anonymous :) said...

That's truly beautiful.

Dianne said...

Hmm I remember this one, so playful now, compared to the first time I heard it. That moon!
I was told last week I need to read that book, Men are from Mars... uh huh.

Alan Burnett said...

A wonderful poem. I will keep a copy as it is such a fine piece of work.

Calli said...

This is really wonderful! I enjoyed the weave between human and sky and marriage and back again.

Very creative work!

Calli

Lou said...

I pay attention to the planets and their movements, so I just looooved this!

Tall Kay said...

I remember seeing this sight in the sky last year...it was right around this time, and we looked it up because it was so amazing. That photo is breathtaking! I loved the analogy in your poem.

Brian Miller said...

beautiful of course...that space in between...so small yet someone must cross the gulf before our orbits pull us away...nicely done.

Rosaria Williams said...

Oh my, what a scene you set. Heaven and earth and dogs to keep leashed.

Love that last phrase. Precious.

Syd said...

The triangle of love...how true. I like the idea of forgiveness uniting.

Monkey Man said...

I have had those moments. I like that your triangle of love isn't complete without forgiveness.

Tabitha.Montgomery said...

OMG,Enchanted!
Do you know how many married people who read this are going to either cry or smile?

'Fing beautifully written :)

big Jenn said...

When you publish all these beautiful works can I get an autographed copy? jeNN

Nessa said...

Great poem. That's how good marriages go. Sometimes apart then miraculously back together.

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Kat Mortensen said...

You present things in such a real and accessible way, Chris, and yet it is always so filled with poetry and well-chosen words and unforgettable imagery.
I love the idea of the dogs and you and your man being the points of the triangle.