The Swarthy Bard

\"Seed of Love\"

 

I sail unaware
into


the ocean currents
of her life:

 

and
smitten, I
desire to ride

 

them with her.

 

Somewhere
along


the ocean
ways, a

 

seed of love

 

plants itself in
the soil

 

of my heart

 

and takes root
and grows—

 

only to perish
like

 

an embryo of
hope

 

that\'s aborting itself:

 

though I love
her still,

 

she cuts
and lacerates my heart

 

like a careless
knife.

 

In spite of
this cruelty and myself,

 

I look

 

for encouragement
in her stare.

 

And

 

at the outlines
of her

 

magnificent
form

 

I marvel:

 

she is
indeed

 

a Helen of Troy,
a Venus—
on

 

whose
loveliness I

 

so richly gorge!

 

But never was
a lonelier
man

 

more wretched
than I

 

am,

 

as she cannot
return

 

my
affections

 

with equal measure
of feeling

 

or passion.

 

I would be gladder
had she been unwedded

 

to another,

 

and could more
easily be

 

within my desirous
and jealous

 

orbit!

 

In time, I
never

 

see her
again;

 

and love,
or the similitude
of It—

 

like
some aborted

 

fetus—

 

flushes down the
toilet

 

and dies

 

with her parting
as well....