Dream of a Transcendent Love--A Poem

 Dream of a Transcendent Love

 It was another night when the poetry gods called my name barring me from sleep until I wrote this poem on August 4, 2020 in the year of the pandemic. I posted the poem on my social media page by August 5th with plans to have the poem appear in Chapter 31 of the novel in progress. That did not happen. The muse intervened feeling the poem belongs in a later chapter. The poem serves as an original work of a character in the novel, a fictitious poet whose works were discovered decades after the Spanish American War in the Philippines in 1898. Here is the English translation of verses allegedly written in Hiligaynon (Ilongo-Filipino) and Spanish.
 
I consider this poem a critical piece in my creative work over the years. Thanks to my ever-supportive literary advisor Ken Miller who plays his role over and above expectations and fuels my imagination without my knowing at times. His feedback after his first reading of the poem: “Your new poem makes me want to spend the rest of the day sobbing—it rips the heart out—I need to re-reread this one many times over..."

He reread the poem the next day after which he described it as “heartbreakingly, breathtakingly lovely and its power and passion overtake me somewhere in the middle so that I never reach the end—this is your best poem to date—I can hear past generations as I read it now!” The descriptive words were a call for the poem to be published separately in my blog.
 
So, here it is, that poem which will tug at the heart of the female protagonist in my novel. The poem could have an unexpected effect on her life decision. The writing muse is unclear how this could influence the ending to my novel. Would the scene featuring the poem represent a temporary disruption or a life-altering decision? Everyone must wait to find out once the novel is published.

 
DREAM OF A TRANSCENDENT LOVE
 
We share the same sea and land of our birth.
You and I know that is where and when 
the commonality of our worlds begins and ends;
our worlds destined never to touch or collide.
Impossibilities in life defined, lines drawn 
in the sand not to be crossed, moved or erased.
 
Who in my world dreams of catching the light 
of the moon in your eyes or the glistening drops 
of rain on your skin made golden by the sun? 
Not the common; the common man whose land 
your ancestors cruelly occupied; just as cruelly as 
they tore you away from one whose heart you stole.
 
The love we shared could not, would not  survive.
But love we did amidst objections from all 
sides of the divide; amidst storms brewing 
between our peoples. In the end we knew 
love could not conquer all. The conquered 
fought, risking life itself. My choice was clear.
 
My love for country supplanted all other loves
of our lifetime. I dream of a transcendent love,
a rekindled love perhaps in another lifetime 
or a lifetime after that, love could stay burning 
in the hearts of our children that together 
we didn’t have, or their children thereafter.
 
Our love flourished though hidden from the sun; 
as foliage on rocks struggled to grow
flourished nonetheless under the worst conditions 
that deplete life itself, deplete life and love alike.
No one worldly wise expects foliage to grow 
upon rocks in cold, dark and desolate places.
 
I ache for all that we shared in a life made 
incomplete by desires unfulfilled. Do not resent 
me or choices made. Forgive them, forgive me. 
When you find another to love, let love grow 
as bright as the heavenly lights, or even brighter 
to the envy of the sun, moon and stars.

We shared the same sea and land of our birth.
You and I knew the commonality was too fragile,
fragile for love to stand the test of time and storms.
Don't give up on love just because ours had to end.
And if I love another, please know that I have already 
loved deeply and profoundly because of you.
 
Poem ©Lu Sobredo 2020
Photo ©James Sobredo 2017
The beach of my ancestral home in the Philippines taken after a storm.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Lu Sobredo is the publisher of LuTravelsAbroad, a blog dedicated to those afflicted with illnesses that limit mobility. A Rheumatoid Arthritis sufferer determined to function in her new normal, she traveled often before the pandemic. During the pandemic her love of writing has resurfaced. She now travels through her mind's eye; her journey reflected in several of her new poems and her first attempt as an aspiring novelist. Watch for her first fictional novel in 2021.