P O E T I C S

The Poetry of Michael Langston



(58) TO MY UNSEEN LOVE [Introduction]

 What some have  called their soul mate or their other
half, I have called my Unseen Love.

 When I  was once  young and full  of great dreams, my
Unseen  Love would come to me in my imagination, where
we'd  sit  and hold hands  in the warm, moonlit night,
beholding  the  stars  and feeling  the  night's  soft
breeze. I knew her quite well, even though she existed
only  in my  dreams,  and all  that  was really  there
beside me was the night's sweet air.

 My soul had  greater depth in those days of my youth;
I aspired to lofty ideals and dreamed dreams that only
myself  and my Unseen Love could appreciate and share.
My  connection to the rest of the world and its people
was,  in comparison, quite shallow and superficial. No
one  else  seemed to see  and appreciate what I and my
Unseen Love shared together: our passion for discovery
and  learning, our yearning for truth, our love of the
beauties  of nature, and our appreciation of the truly
exalted  and magical things in life that everyone else
seemed to miss. We loved great works of art, classical
music,  and poetry, and, most especially, we loved the
music  of Bach. The joys of these things made our eyes
mist with tears, but the greatest joy, by far, was the
joy of our love.

 Though split  apart  from  me and  existing  in  some
unknown  place  in time and space, I nevertheless felt
very  close  to her. I  knew that somewhere she really
existed.  Her thoughts were my thoughts, and no amount
of  time  and space could  prevent our meeting in both
our imaginations and longing for each other's presence
in the world of reality.

 To have  my  Unseen  Love  actually  present  in  the
real-life world, to share the same tiny corner of time
and space, and to have that vast unfathomable distance
that  keeps us  apart  turned into  just  a few  short
inches of moonlit air would be an ecstatic joy that my
soul could scarcely comprehend, not even imagine.

 So I  wrote her a  poem which  I called "To My Unseen
Love," a poem that I hope will outlive its author. And
maybe  somewhere  in a  future time  or in a different
place my Unseen Love will happen upon it, and having a
mind  and  soul attuned  to  my  spirit, and  thinking
thoughts that are the same as mine, she will recognize
me  from her  own imagination.  For being  split apart
from me before birth, she is longing for me as well.

 I no longer  dream of finding her as I once did. Most
of  my dreams  have crumbled  to dust.  But in  all my
life,  this was surely my life's greatest dream: being
reunited, with my Unseen Love.

 What would  I say to  her if she were standing before
me?  What words  could I  say to  express how  I feel?
Perhaps  words such as these from Elise's soliloquy in
Somewhere in Time:

 "The woman of my dreams has almost faded now. The one
I  have created in my mind. The sort of woman each man
dreams  of  in the deepest  and most secret reaches of
his  heart.  I can almost  see her now before me. What
would  I say  to her, if she were really here? Forgive
me,  I  have  never  known this  feeling.  I've  lived
without it all my life. Is it any wonder, then, that I
failed to recognize you? You, who brought it to me for
the first time. Is there any way I can tell you how my
life  has changed? Any way at all to let you know what
sweetness  you have given me? There is so much to say.
I cannot find the words. Except for these: I love you!
Such would I say to her, if she were really here."


(58) TO MY UNSEEN LOVE

I've never looked upon your face;
  I do not know your name;
And in some unseen distant place,
  I know you will remain
Forever kept apart from me
  Across both space and time;
I hope someday these words you'll see,
  By chance that you will find
Within this old and worn-out book
  The fact so plain and true:
That all my life in vain I looked...
  In vain I searched for you.

I'd sit beneath the moonlit skies
  In summer's warm night air
And dream of looking in your eyes,
  Of you beside me there;
And as I walked, in fantasy
  I gently held your hand,
But in the moonlight next to me:
  No one there did stand;
And if I could, I would have flown
  Across all time and space
And left behind my world I'd known...
  And you, my love, embrace.



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