“What Euclid and I Might Share” by Kiluwe Mbuyu

Euclid alone saw Beauty bare,
And strove to make her smile
We, too, have met; I shan’t forget
Her craft and gentle guile
In amber hair (her finest fare),
I knew her for a while

What might we share? That man, so rare,
Had more than I can offer
But he and I look to the sky
And both our pity proffer
To stars that brim with light too dim
To touch our darling author

When blackest night defied all sight
We still had light to see
One look from her, that smile so sure;
She shone so brilliantly
What golden chance! To get to dance
With one as fine as she

But seasons come, and seasons go
And time is no man’s friend
Euclid grew old, the fire went cold
The days began to blend
He found himself an empty shelf
He lost her in the end

This, too, we share: a child’s despair
For castles washed from shore
Though made of sand, a dream so grand
Had seemed to be in store
I held her near, when she was here
But she is here no more

Perhaps the air is poorer fare
Without her voice alight
Perhaps the stars confess their scars
And weep throughout the night
I only know what gentle woe
Now holds me oh-so tight

But there is more to reckon for
Than air and stars and I
Thus, Beauty found will not be bound
By those she passes by
She’ll travel far, beneath new stars
Beneath a distant sky

Kiluwe Mbuyu is an undergraduate student at Wesleyan University, working on a degree in mathematics.  You can find more of their work on Instagram at @kiluwe.poems.