Love Poem.

These are my words
I throw them high UP into the air
To make their own way in the world
& hope that you will catch them
Before they
                   Fall
                          To the ground.
Like old birthday bouquets
Imitating the fall
Of autumn leaves.

Trevor John Karsavin Potter...
4th. October 2012.

October Poem.

When did I meet you first?
Where did we first speak?
In Germany or on St. Stephen`s Green?
By the Liffey or by the Rhine?
I just can`t recall the day, the month, the year,
And I barely remember your voice,
Or the colours in your eyes.
Recollections distort the logic of all dates,
Disrupt all sense of order.

I peer back downwards through a hall of mirrors
Into the troubled epic of my life
And discern no clear trajectory,
No clarity of light dissecting time,
No perfect dawn, no corn flower moon,
No ordered flights of galaxies hoarding memory,
Just a fizz of shooting stars;
Inconsequential phenomena that I study
For no particular, no considered reason,
Through the wrong end of a telescope,
And a tiny cracked reflector.
Sadly I accept that all that lives must die;
But nothing cuts deeper than the loss of dreams.

What I cannot forget is the walk we took by the river
That crimson streaked, cold October evening,
When we first linked hands in secret, shaken by fear,
By timidity, by the elemental imperative of love.
The trees cascaded bright flames all around us;
Burnt paper stars descending, drifting, falling,
Like motes adrift in smoke;
Burnt stars crushed beneath our carefree feet
That quiet autumnal evening, a decade or more ago.
Today the woodland fires are burning, burning, burning.


Trevor John Karsavin Potter. 
October 16th. - 30th. 2012. - October 18th. 2018.

The Wisdom of the Shell Borne Goddess.

                          1.

We just hate this cold October rain
It washes out all aspiration from us
And nullifies the brain.
We much prefer the salt tang of the ocean,
A Devonian sand bar, a quiet Aegean beach,
A stunning view.
We sit up close together, watching the ebb and flow,
The heartbeat of the moon dragged water world,
That ex Paleozoic kingdom,
From which amphibious creatures slowly crept
To colonise the pristine, sun baked shoreline,
That time,
before the gods were born & seas grew cold,
                 When life itself was new.

                          2.

Last night you broke all the regulations,
Diving, for all the world, like a naked white fish
Into the stormy rock pool of my bed,
Where I lay, almost sleeping.
We fought like shark and hunter, but lacking malice,
I let you win the fight.
                                 But in truth, I had to lose it,
An immaculate inspiration boosted your meanest arm lock,
The treacherous wisdom of the sea born goddess
Deifying our love lorn spite with a sly benediction
As she wafted up from her beach.
                                  Peace soon prevailed.
The moon, an on - off - on - off search light, flickered out of reach.
We curled up tight, a pair of soft sea creatures in a single shell
Caught in the quiet swell of our gentle breathing.

                         3.

Reborn every moment, ancient Aphrodite,
Is your schedule too frenetic to protect our love?
Required, from your box of goodies, (reject all mud cures),
One olive branch, one turquoise sea, one dove.


Trevor John Karsavin Potter 
October 8th. - 10th. 2012. 


 

The Night Watchman. (Original Version).

Engraved upon night,
Gaunt, solemn as ruins,
The moonlit wharves appear
Never to have known
The ear splitting dissonance of engines,
The clamour of voices,
The scurry of shoes.

At home in your arms
I do not fear
These hours of silent watchfulness;
The sparse silhouettes
Distorted by moonlight;
The threat of a flick knife
Uncovered in shadow,
The sure footed thieves;
But only know
The warmth of your presence
Curled deep into darkness,
The pulse of your breath,

Your fingers guided by praise.

Trevor John Karsavin Potter 
April 25th. 1967. - October 23rd. 2012. 

Josephine, Gypsy Girl.

Seeing is believing.

Wandering among the wagons I watch the frost forming on crushed grasses even as I walk.

The tethered horses trample the filigree whiteness.

Fallen leaves have turned brittle in the frost. Snowdrops crouch under a ruination of trees.

An untrained woodsman has hacked deep into the tangled branches.

The moon, a cold white reflector crazed by clouds, intermittently flickers light into the February
bleakness. I stand stock still and shiver.

The darkest nights have passed. Spring is yet to flourish.

In the chill distance a dog barks.

I wait and listen to hear if the horses have once more settled, and then climb the wooden steps up
into your ancient wagon. At first I see nothing.

Hurting my eyes I peer deep into the dark interior. An oriental paradise of carpets and plump
cushions befogged by incense welcomes me. You sit on the narrow bed smoking a cigarette.
You are at home in this musty artifice.

Now only the moonlight illuminates the wagon.

The incense masks the shadows.

We lie side by side but not touching, cocooned in an empathy of silence beneath the patchwork
bedspread that once belonged to your mother, and her mother and grandmother before her.

Once your mother tried to part us. We laugh when we think about that. Deftly we link shy fingers.

Outside the wind is stirring the silhouettes of the trees upon the muslin curtains. Snug in our love
we study each others faces for hour upon silent hour until the moonlight falters. The darkness
does not disrupt the calm within our sanctuary. Your presence comforts me. Not seeing is also believing.

We kiss without speaking.

Eventually we sleep.


Trevor John Karsavin Potter. 
May 6th. - May 9th. 2011. 

October 1st.

Dust motes drifting in sunlight
A soft veil of quietude.

I lift your photograph off the shelf
With a nervous hand.
I should have smoothed back
That wild tangle of auburn
Before I flicked the shutter.
I look deep into the solitudes
Of your startled eyes
Black in their small alcoves of shadow;
Then kiss the shadow of your lips.
Like a child in torment,
Lost on the dark side of the moon.

Will I hear your footsteps on the garden footpath
Before the leaves have fallen?



Trevor John Karsavin Potter. (For J P).
October 1st. 2012.

Starlight Love Poem. (New Completed Poem).

This love I offer is not an empty token.

Cuddle up close against the winter night.
We are the same material as the stars
And should not fear this darkness.

The stardust in your eyes
Is far more ancient than decoded time
And cannot be snuffed out by simple night.
Love invokes an infinity of galaxies
With a single perfect glance
More radiant than a darting meteorite.

Love cannot be unspoken.

Huddle up close against the winter night.
We are the same material as the stars
And should disregard this ordinary darkness.

Spellbound by sleep, snuggled tight,
Cusped in charity of perfect loving,

Our dreams are bright with elemental power
Eliminating voids with dazzling light.
We are wise children of the universe
And should not be afraid.

Snuggle up close against the winter night.
Our love is stronger than reason dares. 

Our love cannot be broken.

Trevor John Karsavin Potter. 
27th. September 2012.  - 4th. - 5th. - 16th. April 2022.

This is the corrected version I like the best.