Episode 66: Together and Apart_a poem by Joanne Z. Tan

To watch Joanne reading this poem on youtube

To read this poem

 

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Last newsletter, I wrote a poem, “Is a Life Complete Without another?” about basically…what’s the point of marriage?

Here’s another poem “Ode to Idea Love”, the exact opposite.

Perhaps the best thing I learned from law school is to see the same issue from opposite points.

Want to read the last “cynical” poem? Here's the newsletter it was in:

https://10plusbrand.substack.com/p/joanne-tan-memoir-poem-awards-blogs

 

(Frankly, as of now, I like the previous poem better: “Is a Life Complete Without another?”)

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Together and Apart - Ode to Ideal Love (nothing to do with Valentine!)

 

Together and apart

The ebb and flow, strings of the heart.

 

Stillness needs a disturbing stone,

rippling music, love’s tone.

 

Absence feeds imagination,

longing softens tribulation.

Eager fingers caressing harp strings

Improvisations unceasing;

playing, playful, played; 

Inevitable, spectacular,

fateful stars,

merging paths.

 

Together and apart,

the yin and yang of the heart.

Synced flow of a galaxy

dance in harmony;

Order or disorder

cannot keep them apart.

 

Not meant for many

Not for any cause

Not out of duty

Not because of charity

Not for any reason

 

All for that one beloved person

Whose sights intrigues

Whose voice moves

Whose movement captivates

Whose mind activates.

 

Like the Moon around the Earth

waxing and waning

on a committed course.

Far and near

Up and down

Never deviates from eternal bond.

 

Together and apart

Out of two souls forms one

Never depart.

 

© Joanne Z. Tan  

Written on Jan. 10, 2022

#joannetan #10plusbrand #poetry #PoemAndArt