To Know Love

Would it surprise you to learn
that all I ever wanted, from
my life, from this world,
from time itself, was to be
in love and to know that
the love I receive knows
no bounds and no terminus?
I suppose that such desires
are as common as air, but
I mean this to the exclusion
of all other comforts.
I assure you I would only be
happy to sleep on cold, wet
streets if the woman I love
were with me. It is not
wealth, nor esteem, nor
high station in life that
has driven me in my pursuits.
It is love, plain and simple,
which has actuated my every move,
given light to my every hope,
made sense of my every dream.
How unfortunate, then, that love
could never be a simple matter.

(2008)