Metamorphosis

First mainly as lover
I saw and heard you in a dark room
into which, as through a window
came the small light of our plans.

Then only as wife
knotted to doorposts, pinned to children, to schedule –
or out, a freed galley-slave on errands –
so I commandeered that part of you
that lay bound in cocoon . . .

How is it that I see you
in the broad air, a woman
fresh as earth, colourful as nature –
and latched on, through activity, to peace?
At last I have come out, and I see you
clear, on the wings of my perception.