By Tara Holland
Date: 24 November 2000
I Would, I Would
I would thy urgent lips did not so press me
To do their bid; with caress coerce, and whisper,
"I will not let thee go except thou bless me."
Stones have been known to speak and trees to move;
Unlikely things are wrought, and some shall come to prove,
Yet still defy that which all the senses cry,
"Do this, do this! Herein all hopes do lie!"
Sweet are the things which beg to be known
In whole, not part. Glories threaten to live full grown
In hearts afraid to feel these things impart
Their force in full, lest true hopes depart.
Half measured works are judged incomplete
And unsure wishes do flee on fearful feet.
'Tis Caution's wise and timely hand
Which, more than all else, gives pause and warns,
"Neglect your fear and fall, take stock and stand."
I fear, should we upon our hiding hearts shed light,
We would see this now freed love burn hot and bright
As vast meteor burns across the sky
All glorious, all powerful; swiftly toward it's bye,
Till fire, from fire, burns down to stone
And falls to Earth wasted, yea, unknown.
Oh, how our tortured souls would more so grieve
Should thee, from me, ever leave.
And should we attempt, and so intend,
Our form of thought to reshape and bend,
To reveal the frightened likeness of
Thee and me without our love.
-Feb. 1998
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