Letters for a face

She looked different every time
When she found her way into my mind
I would spot her in a crowd, or by herself from behind
I knew she was the one though I'd never seen her face
Time and again she'd rattle my ideas of grace
She was a freckled redhead once
Then a dark-skinned woman on the shore
Another time her blond hair was sprawling down her back
Effecting prismatic reflections in the sand and in the air
I knew I'd never reach her but I just couldn't give it up
I was running, getting closer, I could almost touch her hair
Her ordinary splendor made me crave her and despair
She smelled of summer days amid the salty ocean waves
Euphonious, the timbre of her voice
Plainsong lying on her towel
Stoner poking out of her bag
Drugged by wisdom from the Sea
Too Much Happiness to bleed
She climbed the highest tree while Coltrane blew his creed
Fearlessly she swam out onto the open sea
She never gave a damn about anything spic and span
Why, she knew herself without a look in the mirror
Whenever I saw her, she lured me into her lair
She sensed my daring, my longing for her
Galatea buried beween the pages of a book
All the phrases, every stanza
She knew how to bait the hook
Plainsong lying on her towel
Stoner poking out of her bag
Drugged by wisdom from the Sea
Too Much Happiness to bleed
Plainsong lying on her towel
Too Much Happiness to bleed
You wish you had dead Kent's sense
To feel love where yours already ends
To recognise forgiveness no need for a god
To cherish beauty where you only see the void
When you feel beauty there is no one about
I wish I had John's talent to clutter up the page
I never understood what makes a wise human sage
His magic lies in truth within and between the lines
I wish I had his soul, his touch for the sublime
Plainsong lying on her towel
Stoner poking out of her bag
Drugged by wisdom from the Sea
Too Much Happiness to bleed
Mysteries in Northern breeches
Sula reaching out to me
War and Peace has cast a shadow
The Mockingbird has turned to leave