that I would wake to a million
times and never tire from.
What a doll,
what an essential babe
who should ever grace my
thoughts with hers of me,
who could never understand
the longing I feel
when I haven’t even left.
Were I to compare you to a
thing, ‘twould be a hearth:
for the firepit keeps me warm
when I am around,
gives me longing when I am
out in the wilderness,
and rejects me from coming inside
when the blaze is blaring.
But this hearth is the center
of my home, of my comfort
and delight, and I would do anything
to fortify the circlets of carved rock.
Undoubtedly, my simile does not function
because this is a woman,
not some thing to improve
to fit my expectations.
I refuse to mention
the struggles of this seeming damsel,
only that her strength outweighs mine,
pound for pound.
Yet, she clings to me with
unbelievable kindness,
such that I may spend the rest
of my life trying
to describe, to those who
only take meaning because
I don’t need to explain.
Beautiful black mirror,
you are the darkness I embrace
the most fondly, the reflection of
what I love
and desire
in myself.
what I love
and desire
in myself.
