A Style of Loving

 Light now restricts itself
 To the top half of trees;
 The angled sun
 Slants honey-coloured rays
 That lessen to the ground
 As we bike through
 The corridor of Palm Drive.
 We two

 Have reached a safety the years
 Can claim to have created:
 Unconsummated, therefore
 Unjaded, unsated.
 Picnic, movie, ice-cream;
 Talk; to clear my head
 Hot buttered rum -- coffee for you;
 And so not to bed.

 And so we have set the question
 Aside, gently.
 Were we to become lovers
 Where would our best friends be?
 You do not wish, nor I
 To risk again
 This savoured light for noon's
 High joy or pain.

Commentary

I was browsing in a bookstore, many years ago, when I first read this. Some fragment of it must have stayed with me; I bought The Collected Poems last year simply to reclaim this poem. It is not as if I recommend this particular style of loving – indeed, all those years ago, when I was young(er) and brash(er) I would perhaps have advised against it – but then, as now, I find the piece poignant. The subtlety of the sentiment is remarkable, and Seth’s verse does it justice. The poem also speaks to me of the many different personal choices that are available to us if only we are not oblivious to them.

This first appeared in the collection All You Who Sleep Tonight.

— Radhika

The Wondering Minstrels, poem #1913 · 27 August 2006

Guest poem submitted by Radhika Gowaikar

Fair use

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From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.

christicism · 28 August 2006

I joined the Wondering Minstres only recently, and this is the first poem I received. And a beautiful poem it is. The sentiment is subtle indeed, and the light imagery, particularly in the opening stanza, very delicate. Upon first reading the first stanza, I was expecting a calm celebration of two lovers’ love, and was taken by surprise at the twist following the colon. The conclusion was both pain- and delightful, and a wonderful tribute to the difficult choice between love and friendship. (note: I have submitted my message twice because it did not seem to work the first way round; my apologies in case of a double posting)

Dgr463 · 31 August 2006

beautiful….

thanks!
D

geetha b · 4 September 2006

Hi,
Thanks for sending this lovely poem by Vikram Seth. Was reminded of the poetry in ‘An Equal Music’! Geetha