{"id":40,"date":"2024-09-08T08:25:11","date_gmt":"2024-09-08T08:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/benheart.art\/?p=40"},"modified":"2024-09-09T13:43:39","modified_gmt":"2024-09-09T13:43:39","slug":"flowers-for-the-ferryman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/benheart.art\/?p=40","title":{"rendered":"flowers for the ferryman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

1.
    Poppies<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

my love<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the unashamed ministry of proximity
as an unspoken promise
between our two nudes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

leaves me
trembling
for you<\/p>\n\n\n\n

so if you ever feel
like you are losing me<\/p>\n\n\n\n

just follow home the quaking<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and put us both at ease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.
    Moonvine<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am awestruck and envious<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of the ease by which you dare undress<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to stand at attention
naked and night-blooming
like a thumbnail moon at dusk
when every eye is fixed upon the sky
stitching itself back together
from an unraveling sun<\/p>\n\n\n\n

you are brave enough to remain your whole self
to stand there untouched<\/p>\n\n\n\n

still unchanged
even when it suddenly falls to you
to shine alone
as the last light to carry us
through the night<\/p>\n\n\n\n

even when all eyes
hide
within the barbwire wrapped womb of sleep
and it would be only too easy
for anyone
to get away with cheating<\/p>\n\n\n\n

you do not dim<\/p>\n\n\n\n

you remain
until the darkness fades<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ready to do it all again<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to love until it breaks you
and even then
to love
unwavering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.
    Yellow Tulips<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

as a poet
and so too in love
I will remain unfinished
until I find within my life
that I mattered just as much
in silence<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.
    Roses<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

our scars have turned to thorns<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in anticipation<\/p>\n\n\n\n

for the return of yesterday’s hands<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and so tomorrow’s romantic foes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

shall have to bleed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

before getting the chance<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to pick apart<\/p>\n\n\n\n

our retentive hearts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5.
    Aster<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

of all the wishes
Man ever made
upon falling stars<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wonder
if any of them
made for fitting eulogies<\/p>\n\n\n\n

worthy of light’s withering<\/p>\n\n\n\n

something so loving and bright
that it could fill its place in dim<\/p>\n\n\n\n

but perhaps
the night is meant
to look emptier without it<\/p>\n\n\n\n

perhaps we are cruel for wishing love would linger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6.
    Dandelion<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

my love,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

even without the promise of rebirth
do not feel the need to fear our demise<\/p>\n\n\n\n

do not share their impulse
to hold out against death<\/p>\n\n\n\n

for even if it seems
unfair, unrighteous and unjust
what other due reciprocation could there be
for an imperfect God’s impossible love<\/p>\n\n\n\n

than to be
completely and unequivocally be
everything at once
until we’re not?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7.
    Forget-Me-Nots<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

and lover,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

don’t forget
to grow a flower for the ferryman<\/p>\n\n\n\n

for him to cast
onto the melancholic banks
of river Death
as he sets off<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to honor the memory
of all we’ve ever had<\/p>\n\n\n\n

don’t forget
to be forgotten<\/p>\n\n\n\n

upon your surrender to her softness
as you finally relent<\/p>\n\n\n\n

it is okay
it is okay my love
to let me go at battle’s end.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Artwork: Winter, By Ben Heart and L.V.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,4],"tags":[7,8,6],"class_list":["post-40","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-love-poems","category-poetry","tag-benheart","tag-love","tag-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/benheart.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/benheart.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/benheart.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benheart.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benheart.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/benheart.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59,"href":"https:\/\/benheart.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40\/revisions\/59"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benheart.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/benheart.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benheart.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benheart.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}