Cestrum Nocturnum

Who will hold me now?

Will you be my salve?

Who will be my light?

As the dusk welcomes musky night,

When the shadows find the trees

Against the scarlet-golden sky?

Will you be my fire?

My fortress of comfort and warmth,

In the coldest hour,

When perfidious doubts swarm?

Can you kindle my lofty dreams,

As the dark comes rolling in?

Laughing as we sleepily doze,

The moon whispering sweet things,

While each star takes its turn,

And their distant flames burn,

While your arms lay softly there,

Strong, sinewy, and bare?

Will you shift tenderly with me

From the tremulous breeze,

Anointing us with fragrance

Of the Raat Ki Rani?

While you stir in peaceful bliss,

Do I ask myself love’s wish,

Hopefully and longingly as you smile,

‘Will you truly stay awhile?’

When the waves crash and churn

On the distant stretch of shore,

Steadily relieving fierce rocks

Of weight they solemnly bore…

While the birds nestle down softly

In the bends of nature’s arm,

And the deer run silently,

Deftly dancing away from harm…

As all the world sleeps

Or rocks, pulsing to and fro,

Will you really be my place…

That I can safely go?

The World on a Table