*Dedicated to Maxwell Benjamin Mandeville
While peering about a familiar landscape in my mind,
strolling down a well-trod’ path,
all that I seem to see are road signs labeled “You.”
Along the thoroughfare, I understand why.
The countryside in my head
is interspersed with golden houses
in a field of flaxen wheat.
Below the meadow lie two Identical pools
of the most emerald-thick blues I have ever seen.
The hillside between, running South,
has a single peak, Majestic,
and softly, sharply rounded downward
Three slopes, though; one high and proud in the middle,
and two shorter, round hills with caves beside.
Below Majestic’s drop-off there is a pale U-shaped valley,
and at the end of that, the small peaks of another vale
made of the softest, ruddiest, most tender clay.
The first hill runs bowed and plump
into its more voluminous twin, and sometimes
these two curved mesas separate; plates of the Earth,
come apart to reveal its soul.
After the edge of this beautiful, pliable land,
there is another slope. A handsome pastel
plain rolls away from it
and eventually comes to a squared, downward halt.
Past this plain is majesty; with circular galaxies
expanding and coming to life, stars exploding,
and nebulae that make me gasp in awe.
You are a wonder to me;
from the familiar planes of your face,
to the lush discoveries that come
from exploring your beauty anew each day.
Your golden hair, your blue-green eyes,
that button nose, and a pink pair of lips
that defy the strong chin they stand above.
Your sultry body, full of gorgeous secrets for me to find.
Like the universe at my fingertips,
in Love with every new embrace.
And all of it, the stars and ground, contains
a core so striking. An awe-inspiring spirit,
never giving up your Identity, always holding on
to a rare, raw intellect.