Sonnet (For M. B.): (Germany, July 1940)
Now if I lay a match along the scale
And measure miles out on the map, how far
These six or seven inches say you are!
How many days by water, road, and rail!
The shaded hills are dark, the valleys pale, —
A green land that black spots of cities mar,
That crisscross railways, roads, and rivers bar, — The lattice in the windows of a jail!
Close up the map, for not by miles, nor days,
Nor anything that maps or clocks can tell,
Can love be measured, or set far or near.
Close up the map: I see your brown eyes gaze
Deep into mine, your tousled hair I smell,
And all my spirit knows of you is here.
And measure miles out on the map, how far
These six or seven inches say you are!
How many days by water, road, and rail!
The shaded hills are dark, the valleys pale, —
A green land that black spots of cities mar,
That crisscross railways, roads, and rivers bar, — The lattice in the windows of a jail!
Close up the map, for not by miles, nor days,
Nor anything that maps or clocks can tell,
Can love be measured, or set far or near.
Close up the map: I see your brown eyes gaze
Deep into mine, your tousled hair I smell,
And all my spirit knows of you is here.
JOHN BUXTON