Embrace

As I lie here in the dark night, she comes to me

Her hair flowing free, eyes blazing, mouth laughing

I drink in her beauty, her passion, her strength

And then enfold her in my arms until her tears soak my breast

And all the while another sleeps soundly by my side

Unsuspecting.

At the break of day I ride out to see her

She looks up as I approach and smiles

I dismount and smile back

Face-to-face, we drink in one another

Two feet apart

Never touching

My arms long to hold her

My lips to embrace her

And the silence in her eyes tells me

That she understands.

My name she calls in my dreams

Puncturing the darkness

“Brochwel, come to me!”

And, in my sleep, I come, reply

“I am here, my beloved, is it you?”

“It is and it is not.

I am me in a life where

My father hadn’t promised me

I hadn’t promised Christ

You were not already wed

In a life where our embrace would be no sin

But instead, the greatest of prayers.”

I watch as her breast rises and falls

The blameless victim of fate

It is not her fault that I met Mary’s Mirror in the valley

She has never failed me as a wife

And before that day I was satisfied

So, I curse Christ for His cruelty

For showing me that which I could never have

Yet even as I rile, I realise

It could be no other way.

My love for Melangell I must channel elsewhere

The gifts that I long to give her, I must bestow upon the poor

The mercy that I long to show her, I must bestow upon my enemies

The love that I long to pour out on her, I must bestow upon my children

The embrace that we are forbidden, I now bestow upon my lawful wife.

And in return, as my indulgence

I ride to that sacred valley whenever the moon is full

To gaze into those eyes of hazel

And to hear her say silently

I know

I understand

I love you too

My prince with the hunting horn.

Poem inspired by the stained-glass artwork ‘Embrace’ by Steve Bradley, on display at the Church of St. Melangell, Pennant Melangell (pictured above). The poem is a reimaging of the story of St. Melangell and Prince Brochwel of Powys.

Here is my video of a pilgrimage to Pennant Melangell.

Written 30/05/2023, Smallthorne, UK

Copyright © 2023, Matthew E. Pointon