By Misti Velvet Rainwater
Date: 29 December 1999

Tending the Fire

I keep the rituals alive
   light candles
 and incense and consult
 my purple *Love is Now*
  book, copyright 1971
 I gaze at the photographs
  and read the accompanying poems
  and without fail
 tears fall from my eyes
   and plop upon
     the pages
I believe that the most
  hardcore cynics
are the most wistful romantics
    deep down inside
I believe that true love
    does indeed exist
I believe that all
     the sacrifices
I have made
     all the tears
I have shed
      all the prayers
I have offered up
      all the strange beds
I have stayed awake in
while my lovers snored
peacefully 
unable to detect
my distress
will manifest
into something special
for me
someday I will
see it in his eyes
and I'll know
someday I'll meet
the One
the one I can't get rid of
and he will
take my hand
and we will
walk down the road
and at long last
I'll have someone
to share the sunrise with