Under the Siberian Moon

The summer of 1984 I took some kind of chill or flu.
Although it was a boiling hot day I was lying in bed
freezing and shivering and this poem came to me.

The scene

Under the Siberian moon
the bride and the groom
huddle together to keep warm
sheltering from the storm

The dialogue -- The Groom

'Don't say you love me
for love is unreal
we are greater than love
as reason
is more than to feel'

'Don't say tomorrow
for it may not come
there is a moon
but no Siberian sun'

'Don't say forever
for we only have now
this moment is all
that chance will allow'

'Don't fight the storm
but hide from the blast
there will be calm
when the fury has past'

'O my darling
don't run away
the hills are curds and whey
and the valleys below
are ice and snow
under the Siberian moon'

The Bride

'I will say I love you
for to me love is real
and like a vessel
my reason
contains all I feel'

'I will say tomorrow
and believe it will come
I follow the moon
and hope in the sun'

'I will say forever
because we have now
I believe life is more
than chance would allow'

'I won't fight the storm
but will hide from the blast
and wait for the calm
when the fury has past'

'O my darling
I won't run away
the hills are curds and whey
and the valleys below
are ice and snow
under the Siberian moon.'

This poem's not about a couple surviving a dark time
and being all lovey-dovey on a beach.
It's about what people suffered
hiding in the hills of Kurdistan.
But when faced with despair or hope
the best option is to choose hope.