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The Ain Sakhri Lovers
The Ain Sakhri Lovers - Katrina Porteous
The Ain Sakhri Lovers
Little bean, twin cotyledon, lips ajar –
He is embracing her, or she him.
Their faces are hidden from us. His knees,
Arched under hers, open her, a flower.
How beautiful they are, flawless, nameless,
Older than writing, than building, and tender
And delicate; for he has taken root
In her, or she in him, and they are gone
Into the greater, all-embracing stillness.
Born out of the one grain, they are a secret
Known only to each other, almost worn
Back to the pebble, polished, smoothed in water,
Or deep in the furrow, or on the plain’s tongue –
And plucked, for this moment, out of the long river.
unpublished poem, © Katrina Porteous 2013, used by permission of the author.