Cinders of Cherish

Beautiful lines I came across in An Equal Music by Vikram Seth

Anglicised by the strings of a violin, The Bayonet Beckons...

Perhaps this could have stayed unstated.

Had our words turned to other things

In the grey park, the rain abated,

Life would have quickened other strings.

I list your gifts in this creation:

Pen, paper, ink and inspiration,

Peace to the heart with touch or word,

Ease to the soul with note and chord.

How did that walk, those winter hours,

Occasion this? No lightning came;

Nor did I sense, when touched by flame,

Our story lit with borrowed powers -

Rather, by what our spirits burned,

Embered in words, to us returned.