Marilyn and Blanche

I always fall in love; I always, always do,
If you touch my life, with your words and kind eyes;
And if, at first, I think you are seeming true,
There will be this heart that will tell you no lies.

But it shall devour the love you have to give,
Since it experienced hungers of its own;
For that, it shall quiet readily forgive
Each teardrop, past pain, each sigh, every moan.

But you will leave, so it readies for heartbreak:
It is aware of love and all its dangers;
And to diminish the blow of each mistake
Makes me depend on the kindness of strangers.

I do

There are so many words you can tell me:
We can talk about solar system spheres,
The basic knowledge about biology,
Some soliloquy that is Shakespeare’s,
Talk of age old wars to current affairs,
Maybe speak about history’s mistakes,
Geographic cold global warming cares,
Or aquatic life in Scotland’s lakes.
There are so many things we can discuss,
Which may or may not cause an argument;
But there’s one thing that can contain a fuss,
Make one rejoice in flesh and firmament:
To end all I ask, “do you love me true?”
And you smile and say, “I do, love, I do.”

Fade

I search for a love I cannot find,
I’m silly and childish;
I should have ceased dreaming, used my mind:
What’s a hope, what’s a wish?

I must learn quick the way the world works:
Its functions and its tears;
At every corner a heartache lurks,
Amid practical fears.

The ways of love are varied I suppose;
A flower is still a flower:
What if it’s a tulip or a rose?
(All fade, hour upon hour.)

I can’t hold beauty longer to woo
Love’s eyes to look on mine;
I lose faith without much ado…
I bow and give in to time.

No questions now on the power of love,
Or self worth or courage,
No questions for any God above,
No dream, no peace, no rage.

All I am left with is the present:
A persistent and remindful ache,
Caused by the moon in her crescent,
And at home a quiet, soft heartbreak.