Muted Tones

Calm in the half-light
Cast by the high branches
Let the deep quiet
Reach into our love.

Melt as one soul
One heart one charm
Of senses under soft swaying
Pines and arbuti.

Half-close your eyes
Fold your arms
Empty for good your sleeping heart
Of all its concerns.

Be captivated by
Air’s lullaby
Whispering over
The russet lawn where you stand.

And when solemn evening
Falls dark with oak
That voice of our despair
The nightingale will start to sing.