Before love spoke, there was no love.
In the old days desire had no voice, only a sharp spear
For hunting—breeding sensation and fear.
In our day, desire is made of speech.
But since this change,
The poet grieves and thinks,
How strange! that love is yet beyond his reach.
There’s nothing in words love cannot express:
Words create desire and tell us how to dress;
Love is now a document, a deed.
Love is simply everything we read.
All we say is love, every word a bird-call
In the ever-writing mating tree.
Love has no will or force; only nights
That drunkenly happen. The spear writes.
Love has no art; all love is speech; all speech is poetry;
The poet is not heard over chattering society,
When love is mistaken for criminality,
Great lawyers are writing the poetry.
Thousands of beauties I saw! And they all looked the same.
Does beauty have a thought?
Does desire have a name?
No. The lover has fought
For kindness, not fame.
