Theme and Variation

A frightened happiness went through him
now, and in secret, at the prospect of a different world
with her. He appeared the affronted loner,
but it was she who had never been loved or saved;
her rooms were immaculate.
He found the stars extravagant that winter,
and impossible to resist. Certain conditions prevailed
in his fine mathematical mind: time is fixed,
and ends are certain. Clarity and justice.
For her, every confrontation left a burnt place in creation,
fastening its moment in the ultimate heart
of things. But it kept multiplying what could never take place.
She fretted about all her hope running out, whereas he became
preoccupied with systems. The stars never change
their places, though what potential this afforded, he wondered.