9 Our Love Is So Natural JUDITH WRIGHT
Our love is so natural,
the wild animals move
gentle and light on
the shores of our love.
My eyes rest upon you,
to me your eyes turn,
as bee goes to honey,
as fire to fire will burn.
Bird and beast are at home,
and star lives in tree
when we are together
as we should be.
But so silent my heart falls
when you are away,
I can hear the world breathing
where he hides from our day.
My heart crouches under,
silent and still,
and the avalanche gathers
above the green hill.
Our love is so natural -
I cannot but fear.
I would reach out and touch you.
Why are you not here?
from Contemporary Australian Poetry (Houghton Mifflin, 1990), edited by John Leonard. Used and reprinted by permission.
Click here for a video of the Melbourne premiere of Leonard Lehrman's setting, Jan. 5, 2002.