Unforgiven

I hoped my life might hold such moment

as made the gods smile,

taking joy in us;

a moment of grace,

forgiveness given

for men who hammered against

your wired hull

like leviathans in the murk.

A moment like the sound of a bell across mist and dark water.

A moment when the moon and sun met

in falling and in rising.

A moment haloed so in time.

A moment once in my life

when all that was possible of love unfolded

like a long clenched flower finding dawn.

The gods have turned away in disappointment.

Silence un-disturbs the mist.

The sun and moon maintain their un-aligning orbits.

You want but do not need, you do not ask.

The flower dies not yet unfurled,

it's beauty never loosed upon the world,

Our children not to know it's favour,

or the delighted laughter of the Gods.