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'A New Love', by John Tustin

 

There is a city buried
beneath the city
and another city
lies under that one.

There is a dead civilization
throbbing in the blood
of a living one –
usually many dead ones.

There is old love,
a flame long doused,
layered under the new love
that doesn’t flicker the same.

Unlike the old cities
or the dead civilizations,
you cannot build a new love
on top of the old.

The only thing to do
is get inside your heart
with the dynamite
and the hauling equipment.

Better to bring new love
to a newly constructed tower
far from the burial ground
of old love.

Better to grow a new heart
than let the old one beat you.
Better to bring new love
to a place far away from old love.

Better to let it grow
in a different angle of the sun
or else be thrown
from its new tower

through a new sky,
into a new ocean,
upon a new ground,

 

You can find John Tustin online at the following website: fritzware.com/johntustinpoetry.