WANDERLUST

Two lovers hold the world in their clasped hands -

Each step is sunrise, each sunset lays plans.

They explore cities as if to appease

Inclusive gods. They bathe in foreign seas,

The water salted to tears, clear and still;

They move from that shore to summit a hill

And stroll back down along its lazy slopes

Shadows cast forward, stretched out with their hopes

Of rest. A shared wish, but for now denied

As they follow the pulse of this dark tide.

They shelter under jungle canopies

Book in beds when storms rush fierce through the trees.

They knock on doors, they stand and take in views:

A shutter click noted scrap lines their shoes.

She greets the sunshine, he packs for the rain.

Together they travel upon terrain

That bids them walk for weeks and months and miles,

He on silent watch as she talks and smiles

At such strange sights. She trusts in his sure tread

And strong hand, no cliff-face drop lies ahead.

And then, together in wonder at vast

Horizons; satisfied and stilled they asked

The stars to map out the constellation

Of their dreams, pinpoint a true location.

A place to claim their share of blue-black sky

Seasoned with lights sharp as a child’s first cry.

After all those trains, tickets for each flight

They find - at last - the stop. They must alight,

These lovers - plant roots. Their two hearts so twined

To hold their world: the home they left behind.