BC–AD by U. A Fanthorpe, 'ChristmasPoems'

This was the moment when Before

Turned into After, and the future's

Uninvented timekeepers presented arms.

This was the moment when nothing

Happened. Only dull peace

Sprawled boringly over the earth.

This was the moment when even energetic Romans

Could find nothing better to do

Than counting heads in remote provinces.

And this was the moment

When a few farm workers and three

Members of an obscure Persian sect

Walked haphazard by starlight straight

Into the kingdom of heaven.

Last Year at Marienbad

“Leave me alone please”
And again these walls, corridors, doors
and still more beyond.
In order to reach you
you don’t know the paths I’ve taken.
Now you are here
you still try to escape,
but you are here in this garden,
within my reach,
within my sight.
You are here.
“Who are you?”
“What’s your name?”
That does not matter.
“That does not matter.
You’re like some phantom
waiting for me to come.
Leave me, leave me, leave me.”
(bubbling stream)
It’s already too late.
You asked me not too see you
but of course we met
the day after or the next or the day after that,
perhaps it was by accident.
I insisted on you leaving with me.
You said it was impossible of course.
But you know it’s the only thing left for you to do.
“Yes perhaps. I don’t know.
But why must it be me?”
You were waiting for me.
“No, I wasn’t. I was waiting for no one.”
Waiting for nothing as though you were dead.
It’s not true.
You are still alive.
You’re here.
I can see you.

"When I Am Dead, My Dearest" by Christina Rossetti