i and thou

what am i apart from thee and thou apart from me
doest thou know they say of us incomplete?
two parts that lone lie whole yet apartment share a soul
you and i, death and life, joy and pain, sun, moon, rain the same
hence these bane exist without its other

said magnetic oppositions fair
still the sun and moon shown together rarely
by design must offer distant solace of their being
yet from this vantage yearly kiss
and blackness of its blissful miss
seen closely but millions by, we thank God they don't collide
though they will by God and us by Him as well

so forget my hours fearing this
the ordered steps counting numbered days
introspective, dwindling, pacing incessantly wrong
i found death not mine to have just yet
though life i'd wished away mindless
of what held fast: two spheres apart by force alas
i worry less and ride the moon much older now
too, patiently remembering i and thou

jPayne archives
photo: jP 2010 roma