Re: The Maureen trilogy: Afterglow

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"Afterglow" is the third poem in what I call my "Maureen trilogy" - you
can read more about that trilogy on the thread devoted to its first
poemm "Spring Again." Likw "Spring Again", "Afterglow" is a sonnet, but
accidentally so, merely because I was learning to write sonnets at the
time, and I wanted to write one for my wife for our anniversaryl I
wanted to write not just a sonnet but a love poem, as a gift that would
make up a little for the fact that, as too often in our relationship, I
was ignoring our relationship to  go off by myself and write instead.
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So there's no complex theme here, just a simple poem to tell Maureen
that I love her (while acknowledging that I don't do that enough. There
are a couple of good lines, and a couple of Eliot-style allusions to
works by other poets (Charles III and Eliot himself). But I'll let the
readers look for those, if they choose; for now, I'll just give the
definitive text:
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Afterglow
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My darling, on this night of Valentine's,
Excuse me while I find a way to say
I love you, knowing I could never pay
For thirty years with only fourteen lines.
But let me try to say just what I mean:
That in the depths of February's chill,
As long as I can have you with me still,
It never will be dark or cold, Maureen;
For, holding you and looking at the snow,
     I see a light from thirty years ago
Still blazing, gleaming, dazzling all below!
And looking in your eyes, Maureen, I know
     A passion from as many years ago,
Which warms my body with its afterglow.
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George J. Dance, 2007