Tristan and Isolde
Dwarfed by towering crags, by over-powering headlands,
the human figures diminish,
marginal scribbles on an illuminated missal
sketched by an idle scribe.
They are glimpsed in snatches of moonlight emerging from cloud,
by firelight in tapestried halls,
by torchlight and hastily-snuffed candle.
The robust sun never warms their bones.
They sail between granite kingdoms over Celtic seas,
tossed by storms under star-crossed skies.
Their voices are lost in the lamenting of gulls,
the surge of breaking waves.
Romance – always romance. Parted lovers, the death of queens;
betrayal, sorcery, revenge.
A black sail haunts the ominous coast;
legend whispers their names.
Destiny lures them through unchartered waters,
drives their desperate quests,
while an indifferent moon lures the incessant tides
that lap the long-lost shores of Lyonesse.
Page(s) 47
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