Poems For A Grey June Day.

Simply, poems today by Joyce Carol Oates, the first woman to become Poet Laureate in the UK, taken from her book "Rapture" first published in 2005, which I purchased in haste on my last day in England last week. Essentially, a lengthy weaving love poem, the book is the journey of love and a relationship from beginning to end. Ever the romantic, the words haven't left my mind in days

 You

Uninvited, the thought of you stayed too late in my head,

so I went to bed, dreaming you hard, hard, woke with your name,

like tears, soft, salt, on my lips, the sound of its bright syllables

like a charm, like a spell.

Falling in love

is glamorous hell; the crouched, parched heart

like a tiger ready to kill; a flames fierce licks under the skin.

Into my life, larger than life, beautiful, you strolled in.

I hid in my ordinary days, in the long grass of routine,

in my camoflage rooms. You sprawled in my gaze,

staring back from anyone's face, from the shape of a cloud,

from the pining, earth-struck moon which gapes at me

as I open the bedroom door. The curtains stir. There you are

on the bed, like a gift, like a touchable dream.

World

On the other side of the world,

you pass the moon to me,

like a loving cup,

or a quaich.

I roll you the sun.

I go to bed

as you are getting up

on the otherside of the world.

You have scattered the stars

towards me here, like seeds

in the earth.

All through the night, I have sent you

bunches, bouquets, of cloud

to the other side of the world;

so my love will be shade

where you are,

and yours,

as I turn in my sleep,

the bud of a star.

Quickdraw

I wear the two, the mobile and the landline phones,

like guns, slung from the pockets on my hips. I'm all

alone. You ring, quickdraw, your voice like a pellet

in my ear, and hear me groan.

You've wounded me.

Next time, you speak after the tone. I twirl the phone,

then squeeze the trigger of my tongue, wide of the mark.

You choose your spot, then blast me

through the heart.

And this is love, high noon, calamity, hard liquor

in the old Last Chance saloon. I show the mobile

to the Sheriff; in my boot, another one's

concealed. You text them both at once. I reel.

Down on my knees, I fumble for the phone,

read the silver bullets of your kiss. Take this...

and this... and this... and this... and this...