aeolian wind

the secrets of the wind
[No. 2 from The Youth Collection]
 
 "Wisdom sails with wind and time."—John Florio
 
(i)
she whispers secrets none but i can hear,
bearing tall tales of near and distant lands;
my wind friend flexes like a balladeer
stirring soft music from life’s golden sands.
 
(ii)
she gives me arias and lullabies
that pluck the willow strings with gentle strokes;
and, by the time each echo wanes and dies,
new episodes her zephyr charm invokes.
 
(iii)
she gusts, when there are simple tales to tell,
on quiet evenings at the waterfront;
but, as life's conflicts in her bosom swell,
she squalls and gales, bearing the bitter brunt
 
(iv)
across the wuthering kikuyu grass.
sometimes she trumpets from aeolian caves,
her bugle-tinted wail chock-full of sass;
for me alone, her sweetest flute she saves.
 
(v)
my wind has left no doldrums in my wake,
feeding my thirst for intimate regale;
she knows how much my longing heart can take;
nor does her fleeting love my conscience fail.
 
(vi)
i'd like to see antarctica one day,
browsing the maldives to the george v coast;
but let my life be settled in this bay,
where kiribati winds pipe-music boast.
 
© Copyright 2023 December 22
by Clyve A. Bowen♫