the stars can burn, the earth can tilt, the moon
can shine with stolen light: but none of this
occurs without your love. the waves can kiss,
the fog can hide, the wind can rake the dune:
but none of this occurs without your heart.
my shame will run, my pulse will pound, but not
without your laugh; you make me stay, i'm caught
between you and the urge to run. i start
each day with health, with hope you've given me;
i reach each night with joy in you. i keep
your every word and breath in boxes taped close,
preserving love that's mine to have. the key
to this is time, the time to share, to sleep
inside your walls, to prove the love we chose.

where once was dark and lifeless
now with vines is overgrown
what once was aged and hopeless
now verdant truth is known
the empty fields lie silent
to keen for vanquished kin
the teeming forests vibrant
in beauty, health and sin
she lies in sleep so peaceful
she dreams the dreams of youth
her face needs but one answer
her heart needs but one proof
the whitened sheets unblemished
invite specific lust
virginal hopes are famished
for courage bound in trust
but years she is from knowing
what girls are bound to learn
and years she is from showing
lust in her own sweet turn
it's spring and sun will chase
the deer from shade and hollow
each rose to turn her face
to light, and she will follow.

in silence we must know ourselves, at night
we must be brave: the lives we lead come free.
they dance as only spirits can, in glee
they frolic madly: no human eyes, for fright
can watch, or madly they go too. yet through
this nightly spirit waltz, no single sound
is heard: no solitary sleeper found
that could have been disturbed. tonight they flew
against the wind, last night against the waves:
in silent strength defying all that day
makes them obey. when morning comes, they creep
back to the bodies that are theirs, the graves
of human works. for freedom sweet, no way
exists: the humans wake, their spirits sleep.

speak softly to the open door
what it hears it can repeat
go gently past the garden walls
where life, melodiously sweet,
can seem to pass on unbound streets
amid the herd of aching feet
where distance (less and less of that)
can disappear into the past
where walls and doors no longer shame
and i no longer take the blame.

i seek more than you'll let me find!
my feet to tread, my hands to bind
in fetters my unhallowed mind.
i wish for things as yet unknown
cracked and pale as desert bones
the hope that lies within my own.
your hands touch more within this space
still there is not one single trace
of happiness upon my face.
should you be singled from the rest,
hold your head high, and in your chest
let love be your unacclaimed crest.
life does not seek to bring you down
or king you with a thorny crown--
still you refuse to glance around.
come and see love's wondrous works!
this does not have to be a curse
so smile, and be in love immersed.