Meager are my words
to entice your ardor
but safe are these arms
open to you in harbor.
For passion soon
spends its wily self
and wrecks my heart’s
most fragile health.
So I love you
in those subtle ways
that promise not only nights
but all my days.
Warmth radiates
everlasting
If you choose
a mild sun
for the basking.
People say they give their hearts away
At the first date or kiss
During the nuptial vows
But I give my heart to you
Day by day
Moment by moment
Because love does not stop giving
It does stop growing or living
Just as we do —
I love you
On a wintry night, I lay my hand against your cheek
And told you a fairy tale my grandfather once read to me.
In that forgotten memory, he sparks to life once again.
A bittersweet joy rouses in my heart,
Makes rich the honey of my words,
Provokes the desire to hold you carefully in comfort;
To adore you as he simply once adored me —
That giving reserved only for children,
And although we no longer laugh so freely
I press my palm to yours
And in the silence know, our heart lines have met
And embraced each other.
A kiss I give you when you ask
A kiss I give you when you plead
A kiss I give you when you throw away
All the other things you thought you’d rather receive
Is it selfish of me to never want to meet you again
So that I can always recall your youthful face
Shining gold and oblivious under the sun
To think you are with friends
Drinking beer in the twilight
Sitting on the church’s stone steps
Recalling me with fondness
And remembering the easy smiles
We gave each other
The feeling of wanting to be special
Is a childish yearning that does not cease;
To be the first in someone’s thoughts
To have someone be the first in yours
And to value each other’s company above all others
We go from road to road
Searching for that encompassing love
You have always treated me well and kindly
And spoiled me with the love that might have been your mother’s
Before you were spirited away from a revolution
And became a beggar teacher with a young wife
And crossed the seas to skin your knuckles
Trying to become a chef where the demands cut
You raw to the blood beneath
And froze your heart to two wayward sons
One too slow and heartbreaking to watch
And the other one too clever
With a memory too long, holding grudges
But you have always treated me kindly
And I will embrace you and dot your wrinkled face
With kisses, because for all your faults
I love you
RED GLADIOLA 