How Beautiful the Beloved. Gregory Orr

PART ONE

If to say it once

      And once only, then still

      To say: Yes.

      And say it complete,

      Say it as if the word

      Filled the whole moment

      With its absolute saying.

      Later for “but,”

      Later for “if.”

      Now

      Only the single syllable

      That is the beloved,

      That is the world.

The Book said we were mortal;

      It didn’t say we had to be morbid.

      The Book said the beloved died,

      But also that she comes again,

      That he’s reborn as words.

      The Book said: Everything perishes.

      The Book said: That’s why we sing.

How we embraced the beloved

      So tightly that fate itself

      Was changed into destiny.

      Then everything was different.

      Exactly as before, but also

      Different.

      Death still there,

      But different.

      Loss still

      Omnipresent, but not the same.

      Held in our arms, holding us

      Even as she vanished,