The Story: Two Lives

Two lives in limbo, on the edge, one cool space. The faces do not touch. White and gold, divided by a dark band that holds the poem the way a held breath holds a room. They are not portraits. They are the moment before a person becomes a lover.

Between words. Between lovers. Creative souls, here forever. Breath held at the border, like patient witnesses who never needed a body. The poem lets them exist before the choice. A soul can wait without a body. A word can wait without being said. The painting keeps them patient on purpose. The eyes are open. The mouths are closed. The two cups at the bottom are already set, as if the table knew they might sit.

She leans in. He holds still. Like a flame holding light when someone worth burning for draws near. This is the only movement in the work. She has already decided to come closer. He has not yet decided to meet her. The flame is not a demand. It is a fact. Light gathers when the one worth it draws near. The rest is his to do, or not.

Between them there is nothing except a choice to love or not to love. That is now. Not the past. Not the future. The last stanza is the spine. The cool space is not a tragedy. It is the only honest place a choice can be made. The past would excuse them. The future would postpone them. Now is the width of the dark band.

Two Lives belongs in The Divine Love Collection, with Know Your Lover and The Soldier. It is the moment those works require. Look at the two faces long enough and the lesson is plain. Love is not a fate that arrives. It is a choice that has to be made while the breath is still held.

Collection:   Devine Love Eternal