I want you to know
one thing.
You know how this is:
if I look
at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch
near the fire
the impalpable ash
or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats
that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.
Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.
If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for ...
You make me feel special,
You make me feel new,
You make me feel loved,
With everything you do.
You hold me close when I am sad.
You wipe the tears from my face.
Every time we are together,
It seems like the perfect place.
My eyes light up when you enter a room.
I smile when we are together.
No matter how bad things are,
You always make them better.
I love the way you kiss me,
The way you hold me tight.
I love the way you touch me,
I could be with ...
All my past life is mine no more,
The flying hours are gone,
Like transitory dreams given o'er,
Whose images are kept in store
By memory alone.
Whatever is to come is not;
How can it then be mine?
The present moment's all my lot;
And that, as fast as it is got,
Phyllis, is wholly thine.
Then talk not of inconstancy,
False hearts, and broken vows;
If I, by miracle, can be
This live-long minute true to thee,
'Tis all that heaven allows.
By John Wilmot ...