'Sappho on the Lydian Wife', by Roz Kaveney
She’s far away. And home. She thinks of you
Not all the time. At moments. And her smile
Lips teeth. She laughs. No sorrow of exile.
Deep distant love. So far away yet true.
You think of her as well. The sun has set
The moon arises queen of all the night
No star her rival. Pale all-soothing light
Makes opals where fresh-fallen dew is wet
On crocus sweet electric grass. The thought
Of you of her echoes across the seas
Faster than high-browed ships that catch the breeze
In white sails tightly rigged that snap so taut
Fast as the lightning jagged from a cloud
That does no hurt but is as thunder loud.
This poem is included in the author’s collection, Selected Poems.