About Lake Josephus

We were at Lake Josephus, waiting
For the rain to end.
Watching from a window as the sky
And earth grew into one
Through the medium of the lake.

There was a three-bar electric fire
And this was all we had
To keep us warm other than our
Bodies and those were cold and damp.

Clothes steamed before the fire
Dark, dripping. Not of us.
It was dark in the cabin, although
Outside the light was grey, bright
Yet there was nothing out there.
Nothing but the lake.

There was a bed and eventually
As our bodies dried, as our bodies
Warmed. We lay down on it.

Somehow sleep stole over us in that
Cold environment and I dreamt.
A strange dream. Dark. Portentous.
But kind and loving all the same.

We lay together and I, as if in heaven,
Looked down at your body,
Your face smiling, eyes filled
With light, with yearning.

And that is how it seemed to me,
Waking to that squalid interior,
Three bars glowing.
That somehow I'd been in heaven
Or even just the Garden.

The Garden made more sense.
The three bars glowing, reminding
Me of our exile.
A three-bar electric fire
Instead of a flaming sword.

The next morning
Lake Josephus shone out
Of the mists and shimmered blue.
Bluer than the sky.

There was a last hug
As we said goodbye. A brief
Pressure of breasts
As your body pressed against mine.

Saying goodbye
On the shores
Of Lake Josephus
I had a tear
In my eye.

6:30am Wednesday
20th of April 2005.

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