And hear one bird sing

It may not always be so, this that we share.  What stands between us now in this place is sacred, but all sacred things succumb to the onward march of time.  Entombed for eternity in emotions both primitive and urbane within this human heart, would that it lasts forever.  Alas, this is not to be.  Whether it ends with a life that carries it forward or whether it ends because its self grows weary and cannot be sustained, it will end.  So I say:

Your lips which I have loved, of whose passions I have tasted, should they touch another's lips with the same conviction, come to me and tell me.

Your silent embrace which I have known, the strength of which helps me to endure, should it be felt by one removed from this we have, send me a little word.

Your soft fair hair which has lain against my chest, the feel of it lambently caressing my skin like gossamer wings on air, should it lie on another man's skin in the same silences I have known, whisper the truth to me.

Your intoxicating scent which has engulfed my senses, the smell of which I ably recognize among a million different sensations, should it befuddle a mind other than my own, call to me that I may know.

Your enrapturing utterances which have writhed within my being, a voice soothing my restless spirit, should they speak likewise to the essence of another, impart to me such reality.

Your strong hands which have seized my body in times not distant, softly calloused fingers clutching my heart with strength, should they bind you to a different figure, inform me of this embrace.

Your skin whose effulgence has lighted my dark nights, cloaking me in soft warmth and pillowing my head lovingly, should its puissant aplomb offer such repose to another, dispatch to me notice.

Your desires of which I have partaken and which I have fulfilled, rapturously meeting oneiric longings both primitive and complex, should they be gifted to another to satiate and share, recount for me that which you newly covet.

If this should be, you of my heart, that fleshly desires or sentimental privation drive you into the arms of another, bequeath to me sincerely that which I need know, that I may go to him in humility and graciousness.  Gently I will take his hands, and my heart will breathe to his heart, and I will offer all happiness and contentment.  I will assuage his fears, I will say that I gladly long for your bliss, that I delight in whatever gladness you two may share.

Then shall I turn away from him and from you.  I shall turn my face away that you see not my tears, for they are tears both of joy and of sorrow, having sprung forth from the same tenderness and compassion within me, our love having carved in my heart the well which now contains this lamentation.  I shall weep then, these tears of love and loss, and I shall weep alone.  This is my pain to bear.

Terribly afar, distant from me in time and space, my tears shall find comfort in the song of one bird, perhaps caged, perhaps free, but nonetheless warbling the same song of loneliness which resonates within me, tempered only by the joy of knowing you are happy.

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